RUSKIN'S BIRTHDAY
Feb. 8, 1819

Aware he is
a minor prophet
of art for art's sake
in a poet's lore and literature
dipping in his water colors
over the aura he wakes up
for an Italian cup of coffee
and his painted murals,
with maps of geography at home
over London and Rome
tapping into the wit and culture
resting by his catalogs
of floral and fauna
at his Victorian age
with fine architecture
at the structure of wide lines
in his travel guide to Italy
with his "Stones of Venice,"
Ruskin adored all birds,
just turn the plumage page
of his brilliant words on plants
yet he was no sycophant
as an expert in ornithology
he even contributed
his sectarian share
with lectures on theology,
instead as a back bench patron
connected with art and society
with his analysis of landscape
on a canvas of honorable basis
of Mr.Turner and Constable
with his beautiful variety of lines
in " Sesame and Lilies"
always on my aunt's table
with croissants and green tea
and a French Bordeaux wine.