Portrait of Henry

-A Found Poem

1.
Henry
watched a tornado destroy a town in Illinois

He also kept journals devoted to deadly fires

his childhood years were marked by
adoption

2.
He collected
printed cards depicting the Catholic saints

also hoarded shoes, balls of string

3.
Doctors examined him
when he was 12 years old

after three attempts, he managed to escape

4.
Knowing what we know now about this loner’s life

Beethoven, Picasso, Wolfli or Joyce

have gravitated toward

found or recycled materials

making art that dares to be beautiful

(Sources: From the essay by Edward Madrid Gomez entitled “The Singular Life and Art of Heny Darger” in The Sound and Fury: The Art of Henry Darger, 2006.)