Look Up (inspired by David Chihuly's glass sculpture,"Persian Ceiling"), by Tess Wenderski

The glass is hard, but the warm colors

Prevent the material from turning cold.

Each individual shape of glass wavers along the edges

As the rippling effect dances among the colors.

Blues and greens mingle freely

With oranges and reds;

The purples indiscriminately

Bump elbows with the yellows.

The lighting is muted as it shines through

The morphing shapes and shifting colors.

Every shape has a single, perfect circular hole in the direct center;

The light is let through unobstructed.

Branching off along the edges,

The glass shapes enter the open space

And hang precariously separated from the others.

The shapes’ positions range from flat and level

To angled and warped.

The only constant is that there

Is no consistency in the massive art form.

High above the heads of the onlookers,

The structure brushes against the ceiling,

Raised away from the touch of the onlookers.

The audience passes underneath,

All dressed in their art-viewing clothes

With their little pamphlets describing the art.

The sculpture is the top of the tunnel

And the walls are lined with

Modern paintings and contemporary pieces.

Those who look up see the massive glass pieces

Hanging above their unsuspecting heads.

Standing by appreciatively,

A young woman gazes up at the artwork.

She is enraptured by

The freedom found in its forms.