I C A R U S

I don't think Icarus laughed as he fell,

But wept so violently at the injustice

Of being brought down for excitement

That the ants on the ground mistook it

For the kind of arrogant laughter they

Expected to bubble from his mouth.

I think he realized it was a lose-lose

Halfway up when the clouds dissolved

And the beautiful, empty atmosphere

Spread its dark, wide wings of blue.

The stars were too vivid and the moon,

Far too small to find any comfort.

Icarus must've known when he turned

Toward the wide world of flashing blue

And saw nothing but jeering expressions

That the flames devouring his wings

Were going to be the death of him.

He must've known he was falling.

I think Icarus knew that the world had

Nothing but an obvious hatred for the

Lofty eagerness of his spirit and smile

The way it liked to dance with the stars

Tempted the sun to make love to him

And irritated the entire world below.

Icarus must have wept when he peered

Out of the sky itself like a god, like a star,

And seen nothing but a cold ocean of deceit

Pooling in the jealousy eyes of one hundred

Lovers laughing as he fell, wringing themselves

Dry on the pleasure of watching his doom.

What is so funny about a man who only

Wanted to soar through the sky and touch

The beautiful edges of the thing that warms

Soil and sand and souls and casts gold

Across tree leaves and tea leaves floating

In a teacup like Icarus across currents of air?

I would have wept if I looked out over a sea

Of souls bound to mine with braided strings

Made of grass and words of eternal compassion

Only them burning in their eyes, ignited by sadism.

So there is no way that Icarus laughed as he fell.

Icarus wept and the world pretended it was laughter.