<![CDATA[Calypso]]>Twigs and branches, once reaching for the sky
Now bent and held by iron bands
To the likeness of a horse.
But is this not reality?

Sun’s energy,
Giving life to grass and leaves
Which in turn pass on that life
To the newborn foal.
Bound by the iron of blood
To the growing form—
Feet dancing, tail proud, neck arched.

And in the end
Giving itself back to earth
From which grow the twigs and branches
Reaching for the sky.

©Sue Ann Bowling

“Calypso”, a 2003 sculpture by Tamara Schmidt, greets visitors in the lobby of the Museum of the North on the University of Alaska Campus. The poem was inspired by the sculpture, which is life-sized.

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