Artwork

The kind of artwork in a house
expresses coded values on the walls.
If garish paintings show a hasty prowess,
and every slap-dash scribble begs applause,
a guest intuits trendy fashion laws.
If coffee table magazines sell treasure-
official replicas complete with tacky flaws-
the clods will never note a crucial measure
and rather pay for sport and dumb-downed pleasure.

So, who will skip the small-talk trough,
avoid the icky raves of passing leisure
and pull the abject, jerky abstracts off
presumptive walls, art not worth a dime,
and speak an honest face to worthwhile time?