Icarus
by Shawna Kastin
The wingspan of this desire! The crow fall, the eagle height and windward sails the boy away. Will the gulls battle him back? Will herons drop fish down his graceful throat? The air is a palace free of locks where the bold and desperate launch themselves into the fickle hearth of the gods. Every sparrow knows that flight breaks the spirit of even the smallest creature. What chance did you have, cooing and cawing, abandoning feathers for flames and invention for a garland of steam? You would be king of the air for a day, in one gesture conquering earth, sky, sun and ocean, wrenching loose the gates of Death itself.
Shawna Lenore Kastinis a poet, singer and corsair in training. Her poems have been published in Mythic Delirium and she is currently earning an MFA degree from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her latest CD, a collection of songs written by her father, Darrell Kastin, and set to Portuguese poetry, is called Mar Portugues (Portuguese Sea) and you can hear some of the songs on her myspace account. You can also find her blogging about music and writing woes on her livejournal. She is currently attempting a novel. Pray for her.
Her favorite fruit is the passion fruit, which grows in abundance on the Azores: nine islands in the middle of the Atlantic where her ancestors probably ate passion fruit to their heart's content.
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