Where is it Hiding? by Richard F. Yates

Museums are mausoleums
       and galleries attract rogues
Street art is criminalized
       even when it improves the neighborhood
Online work is virtually interesting
       (though too many pixels ruin the pie)
And blogging
       reminds me of too much rum

What of the academy's
       ivory towers and hallowed halls?
Ivory is endangered
       and hallowed echoes hollowed
Communities spread disease
Minds are often closed
       for business
And guerrilla art
       can only chatter
       shriek
       and stomp its feet

Does art live in the pen?
       Let's hope not
       You never know when
       we'll run out of ink
"No more war" you said
       and I listened
       and nodded
       and went home
       happy

Author bio:

Richard F. Yates is a poet, author, and artist living in southwestern Washington State in the U.S.A. He is married, has two daughters, and works at Washington State University in Vancouver, Washington. His written work has appeared in such places as: Mad Swirl, The Salmon Creek Journal, Words-Myth, Yankee Pot Roast, Counterexample Poetics, The Salal Review, Word Riot, and Vision? Nary! Magazine.