Leonardo, how crowded it must be
where science, thought, and art cross paths. What signs
triggered your brain? What sounds? And what defines
the shape, the tone, the continuity
of light, of war, man’s lust, geometry,
and of your rhythm, motion, sight? Your lines
show how, in man and horse, muscle aligns,
show flight, His meal, her smile—show how we see.
Can you still see? Where does your vision end?
Men don’t agree on where life is confined
or at what point a spirit will diminish.
Tell me, what final form did you intend?
What elements competed for your mind?
And now, if you stood here, what would you finish?

Originally in Academic Questions, (Volume 24, Number 2)