The Icarus Of Housewives, Circa 1981
From ashtrays he rises
when birds in backyards
have been fed their seed,
a dove amid the starlings.
In smoke filled stupor we stare.
Icarus climbs our stairs,
waves his muscled arms
in doorways mimicking
the starlings in stocking feet.
He feels his way blindly
down hallways, a whirlwind
of feathers trailing behind.
And one day like any other day,
bedroom windows open,
he is gone into the sun to
make his movements golden,
to steel his flight a monument
of silver in the sky over Cleveland,
over Chicago, the Dakota plains.
And we are still reeling.
Come back.
Come back, Icarus.
Plead our case to the sun
but do not fly too close.
And it is a day like any other day
we lose him to a solar flare.
All our litigation cannot raise him up again,
our curtains closed in protest to the sun.
poem by Warren Falcon
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
To A Friend Whose Work Has Come To Triumph
Consider Icarus, pasting those sticky wintgs on,
testing that strange little tug at his shoulder blade,
and think of that first flawless moment over the lawn
of the labyrinth. Think of the difference it made!
There below are the trees, as awkward as camels;
and here are the shocked starlings pumping past
and think of innocent Icarus who is doing quite well:
larger than a sail, over the fog and the blast
of the plushy ocean, he goes. Admire his wings!
Feel the fire at his neck and see how casually
he glances up and is caught, wondrously tunneling
into that hot eye. Who cares that feel back to the sea?
See him acclaiming the sun and come plunging down
while his sensible daddy goes straight into town.
poem by Anne Sexton
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Daedalus And Icarus
Daedalus says:
Go on sonny but remember that you are walking and not flying
the wings are just an ornament and you are stepping on a meadow
that warm gust is just the humid earth of summer
and that cold one is a brook
the sky is full of leaves and small animals
Icarus says:
The eyes like two stones return straight to earth
and see a farmer who knocks asunder oily till
a grub which wiggles in a furrow
bad grub which cuts the bond of a plant with the earth
Daedalus says:
Sonny this is not true The Cosmos is merely light
and earth is a bowl of shadows Look as here colors play
dust rises from above the sea smoke rises to the sky
of noblest atoms a rainbow sets itself now
Icarus says:
Arms hurt father from this beating at vacuum
legs are getting numb and miss thorns and sharp stones
I cannot keep looking at the sun as you do father
I sunken whole in the dark rays of the earth
Description of the catastrophe:
Now Icarus falls down head first
the last frame of him is a glimpse of a heal childlike small
being swallowed by the devouring sea
Up above the father cries out the name
which no longer belongs to a neck or a head
but only to a remembrance
Commentary:
He was so young did not understand that wings are just a metaphor
a bit of wax and feathers and a contempt for the laws of gravitation
I cannot hold a body at an elevation of a great many feet
The essence of the matter is in having our hearts
which are coursed by heavy blood
fill with air
and this very thing Icarus did not want to accept
let us pray
poem by Zbigniew Herbert
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White Room (feat. Eric Clapton)
Ah, in a white room with black curtains, near the stations
Blackroof country, no gold pavements, tired starlings
Silver horses, run down moonbeams in your dark eyes
Drawnlight smiles on your leaving, my contentment
I'll wait in this place where the sun never shines
Wait in this place where the shadows run from themselves
You said no strings could secure you at the station
Platform ticket, restless diesels, goodbye windows
I walked into such a sad time at the station
When I walked out, felt my own need just beginning I'll sleep in this place where the sun never shines
Wait in the dark where the shadows run from themselves
At the party she was kindness in the hard crowd
Consolation from the old wound now frogotten
Yellow tiggers crouched in jungles in her dark eyes
She's just dressing goodbye windows, tired starlings
I'll wait in the queue when the trains come back
Wait here with you where the shadows run from themselves
song performed by by Sheryl Crow
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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White Room
[Cream]
In the white room
With black curtains
Near the station
Black country roof
No gold pavements
Tired starlings
Silver horses
Ran down moonbeams
In your dark eyes
Dawn light smiles
On you leaving
My contentment
I'll wait in this place
Were the sun never shines
Wait in this places
Where the shadows
Run from themselves
You said no strings
Could secure you
At the station
Platform ticket
Restless diesels
Goodbye windows
I walked in
To such a sad time
At the staiton
As I walked out
Felt my own need
Just beginning
I'll wait in the queue
When the trains come back
Lie with you
Where the shadows
Run from themselves
At the party
She was kindness
In the hard crowd
Consolation
For the old wound
Now forgotten
Yellow tigers
Crouched in jungles
In her dark eyes
She's just dressing
Goodbye windows
Tired starlings
I'll sleep in this place
With the lonely crowd
Lie in the dark
Where the shadows
Run from themselves
song performed by by Helloween
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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White Room
By jack bruce and pete brown
In the white room with black curtains near the station.
Blackroof country, no gold pavements, tired starlings.
Silver horses ran down moonbeams in your dark eyes.
Dawnlight smiles on you leaving, my contentment.
Ill wait in this place where the sun never shines;
Wait in this place where the shadows run from themselves.
You said no strings could secure you at the station.
Platform ticket, restless diesels, goodbye windows.
I walked into such a sad time at the station.
As I walked out, felt my own need just beginning.
Ill wait in the queue when the trains come back;
Lie with you where the shadows run from themselves.
At the party she was kindness in the hard crowd.
Consolation for the old wound now forgotten.
Yellow tigers crouched in jungles in her dark eyes.
Shes just dressing, goodbye windows, tired starlings.
Ill sleep in this place with the lonely crowd;
Lie in the dark where the shadows run from themselves.
song performed by by Cream
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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White Room
By jack bruce and pete brown
In the white room with black curtains near the station.
Blackroof country, no gold pavements, tired starlings.
Silver horses ran down moonbeams in your dark eyes.
Dawnlight smiles on you leaving, my contentment.
Ill wait in this place where the sun never shines;
Wait in this place where the shadows run from themselves.
You said no strings could secure you at the station.
Platform ticket, restless diesels, goodbye windows.
I walked into such a sad time at the station.
As I walked out, felt my own need just beginning.
Ill wait in the queue when the trains come back;
Lie with you where the shadows run from themselves.
At the party she was kindness in the hard crowd.
Consolation for the old wound now forgotten.
Yellow tigers crouched in jungles in her dark eyes.
Shes just dressing, goodbye windows, tired starlings.
Ill sleep in this place with the lonely crowd;
Lie in the dark where the shadows run from themselves.
song performed by by Eric Clapton
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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When Icarus Did Fall
When Icarus did fall
his wings were scorched,
when Icarus did fall
a bolt of lightning did strike him
in the sea near to a island,
to help him there were nobody
when Icarus did fall
poem by Gert Strydom
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A Stare
a stare is like a stair
it has steps
and there are feet
walking,
and leaving,
you stare at me,
and i see stairs, where you walk
and climb and stop at the middle
and then take the stairs layer by layer
that is what you like to do, to look at me
as though i am this room where you build the stairs
and you want to go inside my room and lock me up
and take all of me with your tongue and hands and
mouth. You mouth me. And i receive the life you have.
and then your stare subsides. the stair is gone.
the room vanishes. I am free. And you are inside me
your stare has become the memory lingering inside me.
i become a bird and you are inside my wings.
Your stairs become my feathers. Your stare
becomes my eyes.
in love, we make the stairs leading to a house.
and there we feast, and live and sleep.
yes, there are wings and windows.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Cleveland Rocks
(ian hunter)
Three! four!
Three! four!
Three! four!
(bunch of ah-ah-ahs here)
All this energy calling me
Back where it comes from
Its such a crude attitude
Its back where it belongs
All the little kids growing up on the skids are goin
Cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks
Jumpin (jean) gene genies, moody james deanies goin
Cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks
Cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks
Mama knows but she dont care
Shes got her worries too
Seven kids and a phony affair
And the rent is due
All the little chicks with the crimson lips go
Cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks
Shes livinin sin with a safety pin
Shes goin cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks
Cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks
I got some records from world war two
Ill play em just like me grand dad do
He was a rocker and I am too
Oh cleveland rocks, yeah cleveland rocks
So find a place
Grab a space
And yell and scream for more
Cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks
Cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks
Cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks
Cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks
Cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks
Cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks
(bunch of ah-ah-ahs here)
Three! four!
Three! four!
Three! four!
Ohio
song performed by by Ian Hunter
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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White Room
[clapton]
In the white room with black curtains by the station.
Blackroof country, no gold pavements, tired starlings.
Silver horses ran down moonbeams in your dark eyes.
Dawnlight smiles on you leaving, my contentment.
[crow]
Ill wait in this place where the sun never shines;
Wait in this place where the shadows run from themselves.
[clapton]
You said no strings could secure you at the station.
Platform ticket, restless diesels, goodbye windows.
I walked into such a sad time at the station.
When I walked out, felt my own need just beginning.
[crow]
Ill sleep in this place where the sun never shines;
Wait in the dark where the shadows run from themselves.
[clapton]
At the party she was kindness in the hard crowd.
Consolation for the old wound now forgotten.
Yellow tigers crouched in jungles in her dark eyes.
Now shes dressing, goodbye windows, tired starlings.
[crow]
Ill wait in the queue where the trains come around;
Wait here with you where the shadows run from themselves.
song performed by by Sheryl Crow
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Icarus Fell
Icarus tried to feel wonderful,
He could try at least to fly,
But instigators of happiness were beautiful.
Instead of flight, the tragic became
A comical effect as he flew
And wings were aflutter and warm.
Near the ocean, his Sun was against him,
For dripping was the oil into ocean,
And diving was the maniac, all numb.
Icarus is still aiming for life,
But he sighs and he drowns,
With water as his foe and wife.
poem by Naveed Akram
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Three Starlings
I've seen three starlings in the sun-set
And the cold wind blows all over,
Three starlings flown from the Russian Front
Til the cold wind blow blows over.
Til the cold war wind blows over all
In the cold of the cold war warring,
Three starlings sit in the English mist
With the English Channel calling.
16 March 1974
poem by David Lewis Paget
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Sunset Wings
TO-NIGHT this sunset spreads two golden wings
Cleaving the western sky;
Winged too with wind it is, and winnowings
Of birds; as if the day's last hour in rings
Of strenuous flight must die.
Sun-steeped in fire, the homeward pinions sway
Above the dovecote-tops;
And clouds of starlings, ere they rest with day,
Sink, clamorous like mill-waters, at wild play,
By turns in every copse:
Each tree heart-deep the wrangling rout receives,—
Save for the whirr within,
You could not tell the starlings from the leaves;
Then one great puff of wings, and the swarm heaves
Away with all its din.
Even thus Hope's hours, in ever-eddying flight,
To many a refuge tend;
With the first light she laughed, and the last light
Glows round her still; who natheless in the night
At length must make an end.
And now the mustering rooks innumerable
Together sail and soar,
While for the day's death, like a tolling knell,
Unto the heart they seem to cry, Farewell,
No more, farewell, no more!
Is Hope not plumed, as 'twere a fiery dart?
And oh! thou dying day,
Even as thou goest must she too depart,
And Sorrow fold such pinions on the heart
As will not fly away?
poem by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
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Dear Daddy-Long-Legs
Dear Daddy-Long-Legs
When I suddenly spotted you floating round the light,
I froze to the spot, as you weren’t a welcome sight.
Around the lounge, you zipped and zoomed,
As I fled upstairs, in terror, to my bedroom.
As soon as daylight begins to slowly fade,
I start ‘Operation Lockdown’ to stop any raid.
I shut all of the doors and all of the windows,
And the curtains to, I make sure are closed.
Even though you’re so much smaller than me,
You’re not a visitor who I really like to see.
You seem to think that flying straight at me is fun,
And I bet it makes you really laugh to see me run.
At you, I can’t seem to help but briefly stand and stare,
As you float around seemingly effortlessly in mid air.
I do so really hate this time of the year,
When, to me, you bring this feeling of fear.
Even without seeing you, I hear the tell-tale click of your wings,
And you wouldn’t believe the terror which that tiny sound brings.
With your wire thin body, you seem to have acquired the knack,
Of obtaining entry, even when a window is open just a tiny crack.
I can’t throw you out, as the problem is, at night,
Many others of your kind are also in full flight.
Next morning, when I come back down the stairs,
More often than not, you’re seemingly not there.
I have to admit that I don’t know this for dead certain,
But my guess is that you’re hiding behind the lace curtain.
You’ve gone off to hide in peace for the day,
Till, once again, evening time comes our way.
Then, once the light is switched back on again,
You’ll leave your hiding place and be a right pain.
I know that your life span isn’t at all very long,
But terrorizing innocent people is very, very wrong.
poem by Angela Wybrow
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the recent fall of Icarus
i was busy talking to you
about poetry and too sad
we did not bother listening
to the recent fall of Icarus
what i heard later was that
Icarus did not die
He is alive and so thankful
of his melted wax wings
the radar did not detect him
and so here he is knocking
at my door
asking for a little time
to be with us in this
safe house
it was his father who was shot
because he was
shouting.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Landscape With The Fall Of Icarus
According to Brueghel
when Icarus fell
it was spring
a farmer was ploughing
his field
the whole pageantry
of the year was
awake tingling
near
the edge of the sea
concerned
with itself
sweating in the sun
that melted
the wings' wax
unsignificantly
off the coast
there was
a splash quite unnoticed
this was
Icarus drowning
poem by William Carlos Williams
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Dilemma....
neither could he stay
nor run
the stairs keep that door
closed
and the windows are
framed-up
the curtains hush
but their tongues are cut
neither could he run
nor stay
so what he did
is fly away
a broken winged bird
low on the plains
asking the mercy
of the grasses
wishing the journey
of the rivers
dreaming the wanderings
of the clouds.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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The Starlings
Early in spring time, on raw and windy mornings,
Beneath the freezing house-eaves I heard the starlings sing-
'Ah dreary March month, is this then a time for building wearily?
Sad, sad, to think that the year is but begun.'
Late in the autumn, on still and cloudless evenings,
Among the golden reed-beds I heard the starlings sing-
'Ah that sweet March month, when we and our mates were courting merrily;
Sad, sad, to think that the year is all but done.'
poem by Charles Kingsley
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Take Me Back To Chicago
Take me back to chicago
Lay my soul to rest
Where my life was free and easy
Remember me at my best
Take me back to chicago
Where music was all I had
I tried to be good as I could
And sometimes that made me sad
Take me back to chicago, to chicago
Why dont you take me back
Take me back, take me back
To chicago
I still dream of the lake of peacefulness
The warm summer breeze
cause my life was so much simpler then
Street corners and tastee freeze
Take me back to chicago
cause hustlins not my style
L.a. was just a bit too hard
I wish I could be a child
Livin back in chicago, in chicago
Why dont you take me back
Take me back, take me back
To chicago
Take me back to chicago
Lay my soul to rest
Where my life was free and easy
Remember me at my best
Take me back to chicago
cause hustlins not my style
L.a. was just a bit too hard
I wish I could be a child
Livin back in chicago, in chicago
Why dont you take me back
Take me back, take me back
To chicago
Take me back, take me back....
song performed by by Chicago
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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From Behind Closed Windows
Is it easier for one to gaze from windows closed
To daydream daily of wishes to come true?
Than it is for someone seen from those same windows,
Making advancements towards making their dreams...
A reality.
Although viewed to stumble to fall to get back up again,
Many times.
And embarrassed by the sight of this,
To sit for a moment in tears but to get over it...
By the one seen laughing as they stare,
To have their dreaming interrupted...
From behind closed windows,
Amused but chooses to go back,
To a daydreaming done daily.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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