Landscape with the Fall of Icarus

 The plowman works his land,

Planting tomorrows in his dull, tan soil.

A shepherd, lost in the incoming storm,

Lets his flock graze along the emerald Aegean

Among the meager trees braving the rocky shores.

 

Ships cruise slowly in the peaceful air

Towards the old town:

Bankers, thieves, carpenters, tradesmen

All going about their lives.

The ship-hands are focused on the winds and the coast,

Not a thought of the shadow overhead.

 

A solitary fisherman looks for his first catch of the day,

As the hawk awaits an easy meal.

The waters lay smooth like mossy stained-glass

Without the slightest disturbance in their calm.

 

Birds' cries, bleating sheep, the captain's hoarse commands

Echoing throughout the mountains on the horizon

Ring like a symphony of the tranquil day.

There is no cruel laughter, no harsh judgements,

No mocking gossip from the old women in the village

 

As the cries and the splash

Of the brave, ambitious failure

Go unheard and unnoticed.

***

(Minneapolis, MN -- January, 2018)

This poem is inspired by a painting by the same name from roughly the year 1560 by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. The painting depicts pretty much the same thing as the poem. What stands out to me, though, is the contrast between the way we inflate our own successes and failures, inflating our ego and fear along with them, when in reality, everyone is too busy with their own lives to pay too much attention. To some, this may be depressing, but to me this is a call to chase my dreams without worrying what people will think if I crash and burn.