Imprisoned in the labyrinth of his mind
and
knowing that the king controlled both land and sea
but
not the sky
DAEDALUS
auger of aviation
archetypal maker of the myths
(he who forged the accursed prosthetic cow)
fabricated feathers
with
wax as wings
to
rise and roam
the fearful oceans of the sky.
Then
as
ICARUS
aviator
of
illusion and escape
took
flight
his father charged him
“son do not soar too high
lest the heat will melt the wax
nor
swoop too low
as the feathers could be dampened by the sea
stay safely distant
from
both
sun above and sea below”.
As
to the skies they flew
ploughmen stared and shepherds gazed
and
many watching from below
were sure that those in flight
were airborne gods
then at the passing of the sacred isle
where Apollo first saw the light of day
ICARUS
exalted in his flight
heedless of his father’s cries
soared upwards to the sky
as if to reach the heavens
and
taste the kingdoms of the gods.
As to greater heights he rose
his laughter echoed in the sky
then as the ardour of the sun
dissolved the waxen wings
plumes to cinders
turned
and
to his death he plunged.
His blood then stained the deep
and
the waters thus baptised
were thereafter known
as
the
ICARIAN
sea.
Epochs stretched and centuries passed
and
from beneath the waves
the birdman rose again
from his aqueous grave took flight
on the shielding canvas of a timeless sky
with no sun to burn his wings
in freedom soared
resurgent and reborn
then
as
past and future
converged in time
mortal turned immortal
and
man to myth
transformed.