PETO'S ILLUSIONISM
(1854-1907)

It was a D.C. dawn
by the National Gallery museum
outside it is snowing
minding my own business
after my slumbering dream
feeling stress in a faint
needing a cheese croissant
with an omelette
and two cups of green tea
as a jazz poet takes out
to play riffs of his alto sax
from his pea jacket pocket
with a map and address
going up and down the street
to take a look at a still life
of John Peto
without regret
saw an early painting
"Fruit, Vase and Statuette"
and a chaotic jumble of books
piled in an enigmatic heap
called "Job Lot Cheap"
and "rack and door  pictures"
shaped in tatters
scattered in frayings
and scuffs
in the rough and ready
from a painter's steady hand
yet to Peto it all matters
as I begin to wake
at his rack and porous pictures
like at the back
his "Tea Cup and Slice of Cake"
as the chorus of sun pours out
from feeding the birds
from an all blue sky
my words roll out
for an early reading
in Washington's capital
of our country.