With wax and feathers bound on a frame
I seek to fly; fly away from this tower.
Built so high it pierces the clouds
If ever there are clouds that cover the land.
But enough talk of weather; it is but a waste of time.
Such things we only say
When we have nothing else on our minds.
There! It is almost complete.
By my soul, I smile at my own feat.
A construction of my own, made at the order
Of no one but yours truly.
My smile grows wider as I don my creation,
It fits me better than a tailor-made suit;
After all, an artisan knows himself best.
I walk out into the sunlight, my wings spread.
I gaze out below yet I feel no dread.
Just exhilaration, adrenaline surging through my being.
I raise my eyes to peer at the sun,
Its shine pierces through my body,
And imprint itself upon my mind.
Something inside of me finally shatters.
My constricting sanity falls away in tatters.
With no walls left before me, I take my leap.
I soar ever higher into the blue infinity,
My mind released from the confines
Just like my body.
The distance to the sun I pay no heed,
And for my seeming inattention
My wings catch flame.
Still it was my intention all along,
I did not wish to fly to safety.
Not for vanity do I burn.
I swoop like a phoenix down towards that prison,
Constructed to hold that beast
Whose howls strike fear in the bravest heart.
With flaming feathers, melting wax, and charred wood,
I shield my form as I crash down
Into the halls of the dark labyrinth.
The beast’s cries resound in my ears as I seek him out;
For him have I dared the feat
Which brought me from the sky as if a meteor.
There! There is the Minotaur,
Progeny of but the circumstances
Which lie beyond his control.
He howls and shrieks, and yells at me
To keep away; I heed not his voice.
He’d been isolated for too long.
I approach him with an insane grin
Plastered on my face; call me a fool,
But I only do what I deem necessary.
With these hands I reach at him,
And grasp the clasps holding his mask;
I take life by the horns, life cannot reach mine.
At last, I unveil the truth behind the monstrosity.
His form is terrible, yet in his eyes
Lie a strange beauty I’ve rarely seen.
I grasp his arms; he stops howling.
Thus are we, different and same, reunited
In the irrational scheme of my unsound mind.
I smile to him, and he smiles back.
My senses are gone but nothing I lack.
With mad joy I hug him with my wings now charred;
The rogue is now free, his prison unbarred.