Cypress Paintings

The Met* has an exhibit,

Cypress paintings by Van Gogh.

We joined the crowds and went to see

This most amazing show.

 

Like all the other patrons,

We snapped photos on our phones,

Except for one lone painting,

Which a rich collector owns.

 

A guard stood right beside it;

He was there to oversee.

“No photos of this painting!”

He repeated frequently.

 

The owner said he’d lend it

If no cameras were allowed,

A tough condition to enforce

Before a growing crowd.

 

But people were complying

When they heard the watchman’s plea,

With so many other cypresses

To photograph and see.

 

*Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC