Three Poems After Constantin Brâncuşi, by Barbara Sabol

The Kiss, by Constantin Brâncuşi (Romania) 1907

The Kiss​

Bird in Space, by Constantin Brâncuşi (Romania) 1923

Bird in Flight 
  
in flight

over the tree tops
a boisterous chorus--
aubade

even when not
 
conducting the wind
a raven shapes
the twilight sky

in flight

a single blackbird 
swallows the day--
nocturne
   

Sleeping Muse, Constantin Brâncuşi (Romania) 1910

The Dreaming Muse
 
An infinite dream blooms inside the elegant head, at rest
on a pedestal. Her eyes close to the noise of the wakened world. 
 
Cast in white marble, an ageless patina smooths brow and cheek, carved 
in the edges of a crescent moon. 

The air around her shapes itself into clean, linear features⸺an abstraction 
of woman. One you might know at night; an evocation in the morning.

Her mouth is inscrutable. The marble softens at the Cupid’s bow, allowing
only the slightest opening of her lips. 

Come closer and you will feel the cool breath of one descending into the deep 
end of sleep; into a pool of lassitude. 

Her dream is sweet, and so magically elsewhere – lapis skies swirling 
with gold stars both day and night. 

Exotic forests with sated tigers. Believing this dream will never end, 
she cannot help but smile. 

Barbara Sabol

Barbara Sabol is a retired speech pathologist attuned to the music and timbre of voices in conversation, and within the lines of a poem. She writes both long-form poetry and haiku. Her fifth collection, core & all: haiku and senryu, was published by Bird Dog Press in 2022. She is the associate editor of Sheila-Na-Gig online, and edited the 2022 anthology, Sharing this Delicate Bread: Selections from Sheila-Na-Gig online. Barbara finds both editing and teaching essential to a sustainable writing life. She lives in Ohio with her husband and two wise old dogs, who listen to every line she writes.