Icarus

A Poem by Farzana Z

You should know:
The shadows were supposed to be there from the start
You’re an aging building, set in moss and gray stone
And there are cracks in the walls, ivy to wrap you around
Bright slants of sun on autumn days
The kind where you’d sit by the opened window
One hand covering your eyes
The other in my hair, slowly brushing it back until all the unruly strands lay flat
Outside, the sky and the forest overgrow
Trying to outrun each other and never quite getting there
Pale stars and red crisp leaves, all intertwined
Laughing
Sometimes: you tell stories
Growing up by a river, in some distant countryside
Where you know I won’t visit without me telling you
Your fingers are stained from cooking, chicken tandoori and basmati rice
The kitchen is quiet because you know I’m not quite all there yet
That I still have dreams where I fly and fall and dance
(Did I tell you this one?)
Once, I jumped off your flight
And made it all the way into the ocean
With my arms outstretched, eyes closed, smile on my face
You couldn’t watch. The sun was too much in your eyes.
Fashioned wings out of paper, twigs, my own lust to be alive
A kite
Later, we would laugh about it
At least, we would before he came home
And you’d busy yourself, not having time to talk
Before this, you are my mother, making jokes and humming as you watch the days go by from the sill
There is grey at your temples
And your wideopen heaven still looks a lot different from mine
Somewhere between here and there and then;
I find you.

© 2011 Farzana Z

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Featured Review

Sujash I. Purna

I read it once. Then again for it hit me somewhere in my consciousness. But I can only vicariously feel. Icarus. Your mother. The wings of your identity that melt when you see her slowly graying hair. I have made a connection I guess. You speak of your confusion from a distant melancholic way. I've partly I daresay understood what you said here. Your typical Bangla name has helped me a lot in this.

Icarus speaks to me a lot too actually. I'm truly amazed!

Good work here Farzana! :)