Only Fall

Only fall to grasp the true measure of folly

Doom of clouded schemes

Sun leaps feet first into the sea at dusk

Never seeing a boy who drowned

Had only the boy leapt to a raft in water

Sun would have cradled him instead of sea

He would never have flown with waxen wings to

Seize what never was his to touch in flight

Flight eludes the daredevil beside the coward

Still with waxen wings we feign to achieve

What the drowned boy learned too late

Fathers bestow the glory of their hunger

But it is our own we must sate

All flight begins with wax, ends diving into

Sea, dupe of our aspirations eclipsed by the

Trope of our bloated dreams

Dreams in dark keep a longing soul awake

Man once walked on tranquil lunar seas

Then fell from sky into salty ocean swells

What mad father crafted his wings?

Perhaps moon as target rather than our Sol

Allowed him a victory leap and full breath to

Rise from water and sculpt new wings, the

Miracle to tempt again, to flaunt fear

Fear binds many but those with lion hearts and

Fool’s caps step into a sea, onto a moon

Had the boy aimed not for stars but for

Magic only an orbit below, he might still soar

Dreams inspire men. We are born of dust and bone

Driven to mold waxen wings. We leap, drown,

Repeat our folly, gasping, sodden, bruised

Knowing how fail blistered wings, we yearn for love

Love makes giddy the girls in shadows, mothers in the

Weeping aisles, petals caught from fallen bouquets,

Fathers at the dais with whiskey in paper cups

Boys under stiff brows peering at girls in shadows

Ink marks intent, wax seals the wedding contract

Today a vow, tomorrow a blush, next year a baby’s wail

Raw failure, near drowning in debt, anger, trust, and

Wounds. Young father builds wax wings

Wings affix to boneless infant arms. Now fly,

Parents instruct their young, not telling how far from

Sol to keep. Bland moon at baby feet, yet aim for sun

A thousand hunting osprey witness the plunge to sea

It is not the feathers chosen nor the brand of wax,

Not even the dream to fly, but just to know –

Somewhere a man once walked on a moon. We still

Craft wings and leap for love, even when we only fall