Folly, by Amit Tal

Rend the skies to flee a mad king's folly!
Thus the father's mind is set to blazing
Away from Crete, to orchestrate a flight
And cast aside a slaver's heavy chains
For his son, a freedom now to grasp
A freedom lost in labyrinthine deep

An island fortress bounded by the deep
To steal away by sea would be a folly
Trapped between Poseidon's liquid grasp
And high above, the sun-god's chariot blazing
The master weaves first feathered-waxen chains
Inspired by sea birds brazen in their flight

Straining hands and mind past daylight's flight
The craftsman's piercing eyes are sunken deep
"I'll be no more a link in history's chain –
The auspices of fate are naught but folly!"
Soon dawn's light sets the father's bronzework blazing
The finished artifice held proudly in his grasp

With the boy held tightly in his grasp
The father warns "Be careful in your flight –
Lest wing-wax melt beneath sun-fire blazing
Nor should you tempt the ocean's frigid deep –
To soar among the waves is deadly folly,
For naught escapes the water's leaden chains"

The dawn casts rosy light on broken chains
The boy delights, enthralled by freedom's grasp
Soaring high, his laugh is youthful folly
His body, mind, and soul in carefree flight
Beneath, the father's brow is furrowed deep
As his son approaches fast the heavens blazing

As feathered wax melts 'neath sun-fire blazing
Freedom's wings, stripped bare, are naught but chains
Furiously drawn towards the deep,
Into the frothing ocean's eager grasp
The father, ever soaring, curses flight
And mourns another life condemned by folly

Though blazing mind can surely freedom grasp
And mortal chains be cast aside in flight
There is no life deep folly cannot rend