Ken Paul Rosenthal

Where Icarus Flew

for Edna St. Vincent Millay

by Ken Paul Rosenthal © 2015

I stood on the bridge
I howled at the stars
Tried to deposit my madness
In a bank of fog
Tried to navigate between
My brilliance and my blues
In the space where Icarus flew
In the space where Icarus flew

I'm porous and plastered
And split to the core
I'm wired to the manic static
I've hit transparent doors
I lingered in the labyrinth
'Cause I didn't have a clue
In the space where Icarus flew
In the space where Icarus flew

They say you gotta write
Or be written upon
Seems no one can read me
Seems I've become withdrawn
I broke the holey tablets
That cure was much too cruel
In the space where Icarus flew
In the space where Icarus flew

I walk into the fire
I run from the rain
The world says I'm crazy
But the world's insane
Wings of wax can melt
And wings can be renewed
In the space where Icarus flew
In the space where Icarus flew

Gravity, gravity
Pounding on trees
I'll unscrew this downward spiral
With the tools God's given me
With a pen and a paintbrush
And a map that I drew
In the space where Icarus flew
In the space where Icarus flew

The eye of hurricane
Is blind to its limbs
No medicine can levee
The storms that swell within
Got to roll with the tide
Got to rise with the moon
In the space where Icarus flew
In the space where Icarus flew

My candle burns at both ends
It will not last the night
It waxes as it wanes although
It gives a lovely light
Crooked and beautiful
It's just my flickering mood
In the space where Icarus flew
In the space where Icarus flew

In the space where Icarus flew
In the space where Icarus flew