R.P. Infantino | Poetry | The Fall of Daedalus

R.P. Infantino is a published writer of essays, poetry, short stories, novellas, songs, and more.

Home Published Writings Interview Essays Poetry Short Stories Contact

•The Beautiful Tree •Every Soldiers Lament • Yard Sale •What Comes Next?
•To The Doubters •The Man I Long To Be •The Fall of Daedalus

The Fall of Daedalus
R.P. Infantino

Said Daedalus to his young boy,
Fly far from the dangerous sun
Or the waxed wings will be no more.
Fly far from the waters below
Or the waves will wash thee away.
Fly the perfect midpoint, that is,
Not too high nor too low, just right,
And we will away the labyrinth,
Safe from the evil Minotaur,
Far from Crete and destined for home.

The impetuous Icarus,
Feeling wind and sun press his skin,
Rapture in soaring eagle-like,
Powerful as one of the gods.
Flew toward the sun-god, Helios
Who felt shock with someone so near.
He did as Daedalus foretold,
And melted the boy's wings of wax
Causing him to fall to his death
By drowning in the waters deep.

The father eyed his falling son,
Heard the boy's cry, his scream, the splash,
And prayed to father Zeus for help.
Alas, the deity cared not.
Damn the gods to be indifferent;
Damn myself to risk his young life.
I only wish that it were I
Who had fallen to the deep sea
And my son to fly safely home.
If only the boy had listened.

Now my wife will outlive her son;
She will do so with tears of grief
And be mournful her dying day.
0, to live our lives unknowing
If the boy would cure the world's ills,
Relieve all pain and suffering,
Be exalted through word and deed.
This is truly our darkest day.
Black as the netherworld below.
My son's death is the death of me.

"Landscape with the Fall of Icarus"
Oil painting attributed to Flemish artist Pieter Bruegel, the Elder (born c. 1525)