Dedalus didn’t believe in religion,
his brain was like a rusted machine,
cold,
calculated,
but he made himself accept this;
That his Icarus
went out like a match into the sea,
and felt nothing but the sun
and the ocean cradling him,
and that he was at peace.
He had to believe in this,
even when his mind
wanted the thought out,
he drilled it into his brain,
carving it into his stubbornness,
like a grave,
and begged to not have it removed,
it was his son,
and he took solace in this.
Unbeknownst to the Inventor,
it was a truth.
While Dedalus walked across the shore,
he was being watched.
On the mooring, smiled a golden haired boy.
He tilted his head as he watched his father, his head down, eyes dark as he stumbled through the sand, once in a while, Dedalus would look out at sea.
Icarus unfurled his wings,
stronger than papyrus,
white as ice,
glinting in the winks of light that crept from the sheets of gray.
“Can I go to him, Gabriel?”
A man stood by the boy. He was quiet, like air, and had a power to him, like the wind, to turn things in his silence.
Icarus turned to him.
Gabriel looked down at the boy.
He studied the his wings.
He thought of the papyrus bleeding out in the saltwater.
He sighed.
The clouds shifted faster, blotting out the rest of the blue left in the sky.
“No, Icarus.”
“Oh.”
“Your father has his own purpose.”
“Without me.”
“Yes. As do you, Icarus.”
Tears rolled down Icarus’s face.
The clouds tore open,
the waves in the sea trembled as sheets of rain,
the boy covered his face as he wept,
and for the first time,
Gabriel hated seeing what words could do.
They can start wars,
announce the coming of a king,
and make boys cry.
*
Art by Jay.Prepchuk
*
The Word Not World (WNW) series is an interactive anthology where I show a picture, and use the words inspired by the picture to make a poem, such as this one. This poem was inspired by the words, “Gabriel,” from @flyingrabbitart, “moorings,” from @sparrowingsurviving, “solace” from @nate.debar, and “shore,” from @eo2inspire4u. Thank you all for your inspiration! If you would like to participate in next week’s Word not World series, keep an eye out on Instagram @enis.st.sparrow and here on St. Sinjin, I will post a picture on Sunday.