His photo shows a lean and lanky man,
Wild shock of hair above a high forehead,
Dark piercing eyes, set lips that say “I can!”,
No-nonsense gaze that sees the way ahead.

By nature skeptical, he sought the truth,
And railed against authority and fools.
He learned to probe and question from his youth
While small-town neighbors chose to follow rules.

His woodcuts show, wrote Sherwood Anderson,
The life reflected in the commonplace.
He sees the small, significant, and lovely one,
The view of rural life few people face.

Lankes wrote that writers often get unmerited esteem:
“The more I see of books, the more unnecessary (do) they seem.”

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

[Written November15, 2006.]