miser

Media: Mixed Media, Found Objects on Wood Panel
Dimensions: 18" x 24"
Date of Work: 06/04

A miser took up all he owned
and sold it for a lump of gold
which he buried deep beneath the ground.

Every morning on his rounds
he’d uncover what he hid within the mound
then laughing to himself recover once again the hole.

A thief one day just passing by
heard the miser’s happy sighs
and spied him stooping low before his hoard.

When the miser took his leave
The robber rolled up both his sleeves
And hasty helped himself to what lay hidden in the hole.

The next day when the miser, bowing low before the mound,
And seeing that his precious gold was nowhere to be found
threw himself upon the ground
and loudly wailed!

A neighbor who had seen it all
Teased the tightwad in his thrall
And said to him
oh foolish man, why weep for what you never owned?

what worth
are diamonds to the blind? Or riches never mined?
A precious stone beneath the earth is just a rock inside!

If it’s a burrow you need filling
why not borrow my dogs bone?
For to him it is more precious
than your lowly lump of gold!
(Dane O’Hara)

This and other images will appear in a book of Aesop’s fables to be published under
the auspices of EBSQart.

It will be a book to celebrate illustration and poetry. Proceeds from the book will
benefit a children’s literacy organization.