PSALM FOR THE ARTS
by Peter Dwyer
(from a photocopy distributed to staff at the Canada Council during the late 1970s)
Status quo is my problem: I
shall endure.
It maketh me to lie down
with anachronisms.
It leadeth me beside big
egos.
It corrupteth my goals, it
forceth me to
compromise for compromise’s
sake.
Though the impact is gone
from much of
The repertory forced on me,
I will check
My boredom: for time is
with me: my belief
In their retirement shall
comfort me.
Though they preparest
canapes before me
In the presence of’ the
women’s committee:
Though they holdest fast to
black ties and
The 19th century; though
the society page
Runneth over; though
deficits and closed minds
Follow me all the days of
my life,
Still will I work in the
world of the arts a little longer.
Speaking for all who labor in the arts under the yoke of
the bureaucracy. the above Psalm for the Arts was written by the late
Peter Dwyer of