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Icarus
It begins with a drop.
A word, a knife
That ripples across a field of silence.
With what calm he lacks to understand strife,
He breaks, shatters, in quiet requiem.
Since when did failure become a sin
And victories lose their halo glow?
Don’t go close to the sun, he hears
A challenge it seems to be
If he touches the star, will he praise him?
Forgive him? Degrade him? Respect him?
He writes and thinks and cries and bleeds
But he believes.
He believes in himself who has learned the pain
Of a father whose pride has forsaken his name
Distrusting his guide who whispered lies
Erased and hoaxed his disposition
Wax drips from abrupt heat-
Crash and falter when skin meets sea-
Till the waves welcome his intrusion,
And the waters swallow him,
Leaving the two with only a half
Of a lonely figure stuck in time.
Hear his father’s mourning
Feel his father’s love
Pity his father’s regret
And the pair of broken wings
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This poem looks into another perspective of the myth regarding Icarus. Perhaps Icarus did not fly to the sun out of curiosity, but was motivated by desperation instead. This Icarus becomes the shadow of many people today, who challenge themselves without knowing their limits, and the father references the mindset of many parents, who blindly guide their children through personal desires.