Maybe he didn’t get too close to the sun,
maybe his wings were made of something more stable than wax,
maybe he clung to the side of a metal plane,
maybe he was afraid,
but hoping up here he’d be saved.
Maybe his hands got tired,
maybe the air was too cold,
maybe it became hard to breathe.
Maybe when Icarus fell, he let go,
felt the wind gently kiss his cheeks,
allowed his eyes to close,
because this was the closest
he would ever get to freedom,
maybe freedom,
looked something like the sun.
________
Lynne Schmidt is the winner of the 2020 New Women’s Voices Contest and author of Dead Dog Poems, Gravity, and On Becoming a Role Model. When given the choice, Lynne prefers the company of her three dogs and one cat to humans.
Photo by Brian Breeden.
________
