evokes a flightless angel, complete with harp. 
Seen differently, the curved bottom of the banister 
could be a workman hauling something heavy, or 
a bent old man, leaning on his wooden staff. 
Farther up, at the long flight’s turn, his grandchild 
prepares to slide down, most likely about to knock 
the old guy down. The curved lines, the boy’s leg 
thrown over one railing give the sense of instability 
where there is none. That makes the piece kinetic, 
like the valves of a saxophone or trumpet, amplifying 
sound. Something always about to happen. Any 
moment, we expect to hear a whoop.  

—Inspired by a sculpture by Libor Hurda*

*Publisher’s Note:

A photograph of the untitled forged-metal sculpture by Czech artist and blacksmith Libor Hurda (born 1971) appears on Facebook: EYE, 28 June 2024. See also Gates and railings at the sculptor’s website.

Robbi Nester

is a retired college educator and the author of four books of poetry. She has also edited three anthologies of ekphrastic poetry and hosts two monthly Zoom series. Her poetry has appeared in many journals and anthologies, most recently MacQueen’s Quinterly; ONE ART: a journal of poetry; Storyteller Poetry Review; Verse-Virtual; and Whale Road Review.

Learn more at: https://www.robbinester.net

More on the Web: By, About, and Beyond

⚡ Dancing White Egret, ekphrastic poem by Robbi Nester after a photograph by Philippe Rouyer, in MacQueen’s Quinterly (Issue 14, August 2022); nominated by MacQ for Best of the Net 2024.

⚡ After Blossom, ekphrastic poem after an etching by Phil Greenwood in MacQueen’s Quinterly (Issue 3, May 2020); nominated by MacQ for Best of the Net 2020, and selected as a Poetry Finalist.

⚡ In Memory, five poems by Robbi Nester in Live Encounters (August 2021)

⚡ Three Poems in Verse-Virtual (January 2020)

⚡ Law of Attraction, ekphrastic poem after Van Gogh’s Starry Night Over the Rhone, in Verse-Virtual (May 2019)

⚡ Night Tunnel, ekphrastic poem after a painting by Robert Rhodes, Philadelphia Night Train, in The Ekphrastic Review (21 April 2016)