this is me trying | poetry

the fall of man, as told by icarus

when the boy greets
the light of the sun,
outstretching the arm of adam,
he is more wax than man.

a candle welcomes fire,
the unwitting face of destruction,
warm, shining, and golden,
betraying him in passionate ignition
wax melts down in tears,
the bitterness of falling
with flightless wings.

he mourns for himself,
a boy once gifted
with childish wonder,
with eyes looking up
to the daylight.
but now he watches
the blazing flame,
sweltering, flaring, roaring
heat on his shoulders.

the unrelenting fear of
crashing and burning
eternalized in his sweltering state.
seared wick and crying wax
try to run with sluggish legs, but
it cannot escape the flame.
it cannot escape the pressure
that crushes his fading frame.

the world weeps for the boy
who drowned in scorching pain,
depleted in a mess of madness.
because he took on fire,
thinking he could swallow it-
it swallowed him instead.