Icarus

The black night had cast a deafening veil onto the maze
Dedalus, father of Icarus, had contrived an unsolvable trap
No man sent within its walls could ever escape
But by a sinister fate, both father and son became its captives

"Icarus, my son, forgive me
With no cords to our wrists
We will never escape this infernal trap"
"Father
Your mind is stronger than this maze
For you have created it"

Dedalus was touched by his son's words
But the heaviness lingered in his soul
At the heart of darkness
Under the celestial arch, despondency was setting in
From the depth of his desolation
He looked up to the stars for one last prayer

"Gods of light and dark
I could walk within these walls for the rest of my days
And I could never find the way out
O gods of the Earth and the Skies, hear me"

As soon as he spoke these words
An idea kindled within his dim spirit
If the paths of the Earth are forfeit
The paths of the sky are open
Dedalus thanked the gods
For having imparted this vision
And immersed himself at once in his work

From the wax he possessed
And the feathers left behind by the birds overpassing the maze
He managed to fashion spectacular wings for himself and his son
The following dawn
They strapped the wings to their shoulders ready to depart
Dedalus gave his son one final piece of advice

"My son
Take off, fly in the ardent wind
But remember not to approach the heat of the sun
The wax would not resist
Keep also your distance from the waves which could engulf you"

Icarus had often seen himself flying
Akin to the birds cavorting with the breeze in the Etesian wind
Consumed by the untameable desire to caress the clouds
He trembled with zealousness, eager to take flight

At last, they took off
In one instant, they had reached the sky and escape the insuperable maze
For the first time, like the eagle
They could behold the magnificent coasts of their whitened homeland
Enveloped in the brilliant Greek sun

Upon reaching the Asian strait and consumed by unbounded freedom
Icarus took no heed of his father's words
The winds were taking him higher and higher
But amidst the turmoil of Aeolian winds
He could not hear his father's screams

"Icarus, come down
Come to me, my son, I beg you, come to me"
But his wails of distress finished in the white-hot misty azure
Little by little, the wax of the wings was pearling and melting
One by one, the untied feathers were escaping on the wind
Icarus understood too late

Suddenly, the wings froze after a last frantic stroke
The careless son, his eyes brimming with tears and horror
Saw his father from afar
Dedalus could but witness, powerlessly
His son's deadly fall into the shadowy waters of eternal silence

Dedalus grounded the beach
Cursing the gods and his own design
How he regretted not to have been able to tell him
How wise one must be to live one's dream
Without burning one's own wings