The accidental artist, Jasper Plum,
Fell into art with little motivation.
Through many talents, and with much aplomb,
He easily won trust and admiration.

Demobilized in Paris, after the Great War,
He stayed and studied painting for a while.
He learned to paint proficiently, but no more,
In the then-current School of Paris style.

Plum used his social gifts, and flattery,
To sell to foolish tourists from the States.
Pleasant and charming, he prospered easily,
Until the Stock Exchange enraged the Fates!

It is impossible to summarize in fourteen lines
The rise and fall and rise again of Plum and his designs.
But something that Zigrosser says needs to be noted here:
That Plum’s life-style could have been a work of art elsewhere;
That Plum should have been a courtier in a Royal Court,
Where he could exercise his talents at intrigue and sport!

Of all Zigrosser’s essays, in Plum’s alone,
Neither the artist nor his work are shown.

Copyright (2006) by Arnold Cantor.
All rights reserved.

[Written November 6-7, 2006.]