Poems of the Week

Banksy Bails Out

by Julia Griffin

“Banksy Painting Self-Destructs After Fetching $1.4 Million at Sotheby’s”—
New York Times

Just as Banksy’s best-known art—
Little girl with blow-up heart—
Went beneath the hammer, for
All the dealers hoped, and more,
Earning it still greater fame,
Lo! inside the picture frame
An invisibly embedded
Shredder came to life and shredded.
Luckily this naughty act
Left the painting’s heart intact:
Experts quickly came to grips
With a little girl in strips,
And confirmed the worth increased
By four million pounds at least:
Inflating thus the love and cheer
Of buyer and of auctioneer.