***Inspired by the sculpture of the same name in the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden in Washington D.C.***

From the onset his power was
Unassailable from my small place,
Too far for an arrow or a stone
Cast to eliminate my final obstacles.
No illusions were necessary,
Foretold height and strength placed him
In a tier of war I could never hope to reach.
Vain hopes sustained me,
Maybe a being such as this
Simply did not exist.
How foolish that thinking was!
Instead he came and towered above me.
He cast a shower over my memory,
Reached in and plucked out a flower,
Set it aflame, and let it consume me.
Then he took the whole world on those broad shoulders
Gave it to her as his life
All in the first moments of my eyes meeting his
When I knew the war was already over.
In fact,
It had never actually begun.