Don’t Let That Horse (#14)

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14
Don't let that horse
                                    eat that violin
    cried Chagall's mother
                                             But he
                        kept right on
                                                 painting

And became famous

And kept on painting
                                       The Horse With Violin In Mouth

And when he finally finished it
he jumped up upon the horse
                                                     and rode away
                  waving the violin

And then with a low bow gave it
to the first naked nude he ran across

And there were no strings
                                                 attached

 'Don’t let that horse... (#14) By Lawrence Ferlinghetti, from A Coney Island of the Mind, copyright ©1958 by Lawrence Ferlinghetti.