Icarus

Posted by Ezra French on 3/24/2026 4:43:39 PM

I often pause to question the tale: 

What if his ambition was to fail? 

I have wondered how the story turns, 

And what the modern world from Icarus learns. 

 

If Icarus had flown too low, 

To drown beneath the undertow;

We wouldn't call him Dreamer, bright and bold, 

Just a pathetic failure, sharp and cold. 

He'd be the villain of a reckless flight, 

A fool who chose the endless night.

 

I know this judgment, and now I agree,

Because that alternative Icarus is me. 

I chose the ocean's massive size, 

And due to this, I drowned in lies.

 

I flew too close, too lost in commotion, 

Drowning in the sheer, wrong misery of the ocean. 

Not living myself, not truly free,

I let the water overpower me.

 

I sank. Not in a blaze, but in a shameful quiet, 

The wings, someone else's, had started to riot. 

They dissolved like mist, the frame was failing, 

Feathers around me, darkness prevailing.

 

I hit the floor. I knew my end. 

But broken things can always mend. 

One day I am gonna grow wings. 

And forget the pain that sorrow brings.

 

Wings of my own forging, made from the core, 

I will leave this cold, dark ocean floor. 

I will choose the fire, though it brings the end, 

For the sun's high grace, I will gladly contend.

 

I will burn just to show I can.

To finally test my new wingspan.

I trade the coldness of the crushing depth, 

For the last, bright gasp of my burning breath.


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Replies

Comment by Karen Croft on 6/6/2026 5:53:24 PM

very nicely written!!

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