Bas Relief

Birth flattened
Clean as slate
Life began

Crayons color
charcoal, chalk white
Choice yours

Simple man, not a Rodin
Can etch what life gives
What achieved.

Gesso foundation to sculpt
whittle deep or shallow relief
Etch, what life fetched

Sculpted mien is what is
Of posture, stance, tilt or
Bas relief, lived life’s lilt.

Shallow butterfly
Depthless flitting
Knowing well life fleeting

Sculpted statue
Hours belabored portraying
Blatant, latent harbored

Shallow deep, sand depleting
Buzz pleasuring many as bas relief
Play statue confounding all, any

bas relief: sculpture in which figures are carved in a flat surface so that they project only a little from the background

Originally Published: August 5, 2010