Sabin Howard
—who created A Soldier’s Journey at the National
World War I Memorial in Washington, D.C.
He steps off of the airplane of the gods,
in black tee shirt, sun glasses and black shorts,
and stops. Beneath the cirrus clouds, he nods.
It’s hard to say what he is going towards.
He trods along the furrowed sands of time,
his head, his arms, his hands, his legs, in bronze;
a Hermes soaring high through the sublime,
he meets the renaissance of a new dawn.
With grandeur, grace, perhaps nobility,
why not a sculptor this side of the sea?
With greatness, as was once in Italy,
why not create Bronx capolavori?
He looks across the Atlantic, open eyes,
and then extends his sternum to the skies.
capolavori: masterpieces
Lightning Striking
He looked up high, and saw it—lightning striking—in the sky.
Sunt lacrimae in things, he thought, and he began to cry…
for mortal things that touch the mind, and interrupt the soul,
exciting, lighting up the mind, enlightening the whole.
And then he heard it afterwards—the thunder rumbling,
the crashing, smashing, pounding raindrops, pouring, tumbling.
It shook the atmosphere. He heard it there where he was at.
It rattled to his very bones, a booming rat-a-tat.
He felt so lost. How could he ever understand life’s cause?
It passed so fast. Alas, he didn’t have the time to pause.
Reacting to events encountered, swirling all around,
he faced them all, he met the squall, his feet still on the ground.
Sunt Lacrimae: short form of “Sunt lacrimae rerum,” which translates to “there are tears for things”
Bruce Dale Wise is a poet and former English teacher currently residing in Texas.
Bruce, thank you for making me aware of the sculpture works of Sabin Howard. I had to look him up on “Wikipedia” and learned that “A Soldier’s Journey” is a 60-foot masterpiece. He is one those rare classical sculptors, especially in America, who, as you say, brings to us sculptures reminiscent of Italy. I learned some of his sculptures are large-scale pieces, such as Hermes, Aphrodite, and Apollo. “Lightning Striking” is one of the best and most sensitive poems I have read on the subject with instant introspection and emotional reaction.