Icarus Ascending
A cadence of blacktop and steel,
Wind music of cloud and passing signs,
Surging just off the lot,
The silence of electric zoom power,
The color of welder’s arc blue.
Speed 70
Two lane country freedom,
Behind wheel-fencing,
Arabian racing me,
Fever grip,
Steering straight.
Speed 90
Crumpled tickets flutter above visor,
Remembered lane passing,
Forgotten blurs passed,
Ray-bans pressed across bridge,
Accelerator floored.
Speed 105
Tach at red,
Radio blaring Holst’s Mars,
Seatbelt unsnapped,
Wanting to fly…
Speed…
Pylons scatter,
Divider concrete launches,
I lay claim to Icarus,
Dream of finding father above,
Am jettisoned from an altar of steel,
A mythological chrome dagger of Hermes giving chase,
God of thieves am I
Cosmic soaring,
Darkness visible…
At last.
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I'm not sure whether or not this actually happened to you, but California is the kind of place where one can fly. Either inside the steel cage or outside… Take your pick. I mourned when I learned that the Topless Mother of Eight, died with four of her children after driving off a cliff and, Vic Damone found in a tree in his Ferrari, lucky to be alive. I'm sure there are many more.
Ron