It would be when the air would feel like silk or like the hues were almost brighter.
It was when the hills felt lower and the low felt lighter.
In the speckles of day when I would sing to the tune of another’s brass,
Somehow my daydreams would still hold a conversation with you.
You’d saunter in with kindness and class;
The kind of attitude that sometimes I wish I had.
Your tone and diction were hard to imagine,
They lacked the luster and the passion.
They were all the corridors to every phrase.
They were all the oddities I wanted to praise.
I can feel the wax melt from my wings with just the thought of knowing you in abundance.
You are a Sun to my sand with a depth I should never learn.
You’re a distance that feels relaxed and at a level I could never convince.
At your hand would I bloom into my hyacinth petals or would my roots begin to rot?
Would I compliment your warmth by offering a place to rest or would my minerals begin to harden into a glass for my next cathedral?
It’s necessity the keeps the unknown locked in a mental maze that which I have mending to wrought.
Still, my stargazing will end when I fall.
Those feathers left to remind me of how little about you I’ve ever actually known;
And yet how bittersweet to imagine having ever flown.

someplace else, icarus has taken one look at the sun and recoils like a banished angel. lo, the cheerless shadows befogging. lo, the waxen wings he clipped — swallowed by solid ground. lo, the skies melt above the sea, in horror, as he falls in place over his bones and sinks into his sunless chest.

of course I’m angry
of course I’m sad
of course I’m broken
of course I’m mad
of course I’m happy
I’m filled with light
I’m not one to look for a fight
I need not look far, you see,
the fight is between me and me
It’s a tiny typhoon,
with the weight of the moon,
It drags me down to the sea - with no light
I try and try with all my might
for years I struggle
for years I fail
to protect myself
I build my own jail
I am my own warden
I am my own bars
but you see the freedom
of my painted scenery
the walls of my cell - mirrors to reality
if the mirror is broken
well, seven years bad luck
but at this point I don’t think I give a ****
so please let me rest
so please give me peace
I’m ready for that one final test
but if today’s not my day to meet my Lord and Savior
I have faith that He awaits to see what I endeavour
to see if I struggle
to see if I care  
to see if I fight
to see if I dare
I dare to dream
I dare to try
I dare to soar
I dare to fly
so from the sea I’ll breach my wings
and track Icarus’ fall from the Kings
for where he fell, so too shall I fly, to the moon and back - so dare shall I

His eyes were headlights at midnight
The unexpected dawning of a new world
Snatched away as suddenly as it came
Leaving in its wake,
The blinding stare of blue-black patches
Staining the asphalt like spilled paint.
Oh, my dear,
You flew, too fast, too high,
the reckless wantonness of youth
grasping through your wings,
The way her hands once ran through your hair,
what do you have left
But the drag of gravity,
The silver blade of the scream
Just before
The fall.

my dear,
can i call you that?
it's not applicable, but carries weight
our fingertips no longer touch
our mouths no longer smile
too full of vows left unsaid

let me say them now
i loved you
i loved you and i felt trapped by you
not by a fault of yours
the desert was calling
i could not resist

you know how i am
forever chasing the sun
i think i may have gotten too close
the wax on my wings is burning
bringing you down with me
sorry

© 2021 benedict

On the overpass
a man throws his arms up
In crucifixion grace  
His expression is wandering between
Elation and desecration
Face ****** to the late afternoon sun
Belly pressed to the rail like the bow of a ship

My stomach curdling
I pass beneath him
Panicked, I check the rear view for swerving cars and relieved,
find none.
At home the 911 call list shows nothing
On that stretch of road.

I hope he was only greeting the autumn
An icarus whose wings
Never melted.

Fair goddess, strip me of my wings
And cast my body to the sea

Atleast then I become the rain that kisses your cheek-
the morning dew that brushes your ankles-
the snow that rests upon your raven lashes.

For as Icarus envies the sky for embracing the sun, I envy these things in their gorgeous simplicity

And yet,
they dwell oblivious to the fortune they posses-the gift of touching you

If insanity is truly a blissful ignorance,
then take my mind so my heart can be free,
set it on fire and gift the ashes to the wind.
If I shall burn, then I burn like Icarus,
euphorically and foolishly in love.

i am not icarus,
but your heart
beams brighter than the sun
and if i could construct wings made of wax
to reach the heat of your heart once more
i'd do it before that anxious little *****
could even strike a beat
if only you would just allow me
to melt all over again
in the rays of your sunlight