The Dog and the Fish and the Angel

In later life, Da Vinci saw Milan
And then Bologna, where the new French king
To meet the maker of Vitruvian Man
Came, back to France that genius to bring.
And in Amboise he’d live in Clos Lucé
And be allowed to do all things his way.

It had not always been so. In Florence,
Starting out, Verrocchio’s apprentice,
His garzone, he’d shown no abhorrence
To perform the meanest task. Inventive
Even then, Pollaiuolo’s white dog’s blurred,
Fish swings as though Tobias on each word

The angel says hangs, hurries to keep up.
Such telling details, dashed off in a trice,
Are proof he can do more than just sweep up.
His angel in The Baptism of Christ
His master looks upon and almost chokes
With envy: from small acorns grow great oaks.