The Clip Art Waltz

William Overington

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Waltzing through clip art
On a computer
Documents to enhance
Lots of pictures
Looked at then forgotten
With just a moment of glance
Bananas and strawberries
Cherries and oranges
Even a plum and a pear
Waltzing through clip art
Looking for images
Delight at the choice that is there
Mary Smith
Is reading her books
As someone chooses clip art
Mary hopes that she'll be chosen
On a poster to play a part
She's seldom chosen
Chosen so rarely
Less than the polar bear
And Mary tries
To just read her books
And act that she doesn't care
A poster designer
Completing a project
To publicise evening class
Finds Mary reading
Quietly and sadly
And thinks she might fill the part
Quickly and gently
With skilful dexterity
He wisks her into the task
And Mary is delighted
In a way slightly frightened
That in public she's going to dance!
An autoshape cuboid
Made of porous red rock
Is falling towards a lake
In just slightly less than
A quarter second from now
An enormous splash it will make
Ripples spread out in all directions
In a lake ungrouped from a map
From an event in life
To its echo in art
There can be a waltzing time gap
Thousands of images
In the clip art gallery
Combine them in twos and threes
A group of people
From the office
On a day out if you please
Just look at them standing
Colleagues together
In front of the Brandenburg Gate
Or is it a copy
Made to half scale
Out in some mid-western state
Perhaps the cactus
At the edge of the page
Is a hint that something is wrong
Or is it just licence
Artistic and happy
Waltzing through clip art in song
And Mary Smith
On old gold paper
Is seen around the town
And Mary Smith
Is content in her heart
She's lost that feeling down frown
She's happy and jolly
Her self-esteem flying
She feels like she's waltzing along
So many images
So many echoes from art
As we waltz through clip art in song
Yes so many images
So many echoes from art ....
As we waltz through clip art in song
(ONE two three ONE two three ONE two three ONE ....)
(ONE two three ONE two three ONE POM! POM!)