Icarus In New York

if Icarus fell out of the sky
& landed in Times Square,
miraculously, so as not
to damage his body,
would anyone whirl
to witness the event?

shorn of melted wings,
would he take to begging
among the petty merchants
& hustlers? would he
find his feet and run,
sprinting down Fifth Ave.
in a headlong push towards
oblivion? or jump off Empire
State, a suicidal victim
of his own need to fly?

perhaps he'd make peace
w/ the poverty of winglessness
and apply for work
in the New York Public Library.

perhaps he'd take an apartment
in Chelsea, furnish it rococo.

perhaps he'd run for office,
become a private pilot,
take his sons on flights
over the ocean, heedless
of the sun's rage, remembering
only promise.