Icarus

ICARUS

A poem by Luna Jaffe

———

You flew too close

to the sun

caught up in the rapture,

unaware how far you’d gone.

Your fragile wings became untethered &

failed,

falling sudden and swift

through rarified air

You felt the ripping away,

but it was too late.

I tried to catch you,

held out my arms

but you fell right through.

I was left covered in wax and feathers

burning through my skin to the bone.

Each day I rip the bandages off,

screams echo against the walls & trees.

They say this is how one heals

from burns so deep;

the tearing off,

the scraping,

the wrapping & ointment,

the pain of being,

the knowing that tomorrow

it will be the same,

a ritual of mourning eons old.

Who can sit with me in this state?

Witness to the unbearable ache.

Can you just

be

with

me?

Can you hold space

with trust

that my soul knows what it's doing?