Waiting in impatience for
flight to be invented,
Icarus flipped his lid.
Why wait? he quipped,
gazing at the sky,
yearning to fly beyond
the limits of the known world.
He gathered components
stealing some –
never being one for discipline -
begged plumes from birds-
and wax from bees;
made strong string
from leaves;
cobbled all together
into a contraption
Now he’d discover whether
miracles really happen.
He climbed Mount Olympus
as a handy take-off point,
for his heroic moment,
strapped on his clumsy apparatus,
leapt with sublime divine afflatus
into the unknown.
For a moment or two,
free-flight brought cries of joy
until the boy, in careless rapture
soared too high to Phoebus capture.
Beeswax melted
spare parts dispersed
Poor Icarus cursed
and dived head first
to painful perdition.
Father Daedalus, on solid ground,
acknowledged the prudence he had found
in the words of the prophets -
“It will all end in tears.”
And it did.
image credit: Google Images
Oh, poor Icarus! I too like your matter-of-fact slanginess in this telling.
You made the story of Icarus your own. An original take, and yes it DID end it tears! Poor Icarus.
What a very clever response to the wordle, and from it you craft an engaging poem of wit and elegance.
and i wonder what have we learned of this story and pu in play…or is it just another story in a book somewhere? smiles.
A fine retelling of a well-known story – and the ending made me laugh.
One of my fave stories and you sang the poem well!
Nicely done, Viv.
Pamela
Superb Viv! A great take on the classic.
I had an afflatus once.
Flat belly, too.
but i was a lot younger then.
Now when I get a case of afflatus
Now I take an antacid-us
giggle
lots of – fun language, images and phrases
Nice re-telling of a sad tale … still was hoping for a different ending but that’s just me … poor Icarus, even in history, he never learns.
http://thepoet-tree-house.blogspot.ca/2013/02/patience-for-angel.html
Love this Viv. So reminds me of Carol Ann Duffy’s Mrs Icarus. Smiled the whole way thru the read.
Even though I knew how it ended, I was captivated by your words!
What a surprising take on the wordle. I enjoyed it.
brilliant, well done
This is so clever! Brilliant use of the words!
yes, we spend so much of life reaching for the sun, only to burned
Very enjoyable read. I tend to be in less of a rush these days…maybe my tears will be for joy?
http://julesgemsandstuff.blogspot.com/2013/02/sw-97-winged-messenger.html
I love it. The modern language for an ancient tale, and the way the words rhyme when he’s falling, gives a real sense of the descent. I forgot that the words came from a wordle!
You gave new life to Icarus’ sad fate, it was beautiful.
I love your rendition of this ancient story. You’ve breathed new life into it, and it sings, even though it’s a rather mournful song.
Whirling Glimpses
Yes this one’s a “WOW” … love the humanization of Icarus
The tale of Icarus has always been a bit of a dampener. Man in his wisdom has chosen to ignore his example with remarkable results. Long may I benefit from others premature ambition.
He should have done it in England… He wouldn’t have got anywhere near the sun!
Oh I don’t know – if he chose his date carefully, there are one or two days when the sun shines!
A riveting write of the Icarus story for our enjoyment.