Icarus, again*

Who knew the myth of Icarus was so popular?
Barely an acute angle left.

So what if Icarus lived, found among the seashells on the shore,
would he survive joking about wax and feathers?
teasing in the classroom, in the hallways, on the bus?
looking for the spines of wings in the locker room?
repeating why a son should always listen to his father?

Oh, to erase his folly.
Yet how to be a common man,
he who touched the sky.

They say his words captured
within the whorls of seashells,
for boys who dream to fly.
He whispers take the risk,
how could he not?


*According to Greek mythology, Icarus flew too close to the sun,
the wax of his wings melted and he fell into the sea.