The Flight of Icarus

I watched you, my son

Making your wings

Fine and feathery

Large. Then larger

(you must) Watch me fly, dad!

The rhythm of your flight – fast, strong

Then faster, faster

Up, up

High, high, higher

Come back!

Was that my heart or my voice that cried to you?

I watched you………soaring, soar……

The sun…. too close!

Too high

Up there, I watched you go, up there

Oh, my son,

My son – shining……or burning?

Flames, singeing, melting

The wings shrivel, shrink

Flapping wildly, then feebly. Fear.

Fluttering

Falling

And when you fell

I watched

My son

Daedalus (6th July 2007)

Written when a young colleague went through a major crisis