Saturday, April 14, 2018

NaPoWriMo 2018 Day 13A: Daedalus, Falling From Grace

So...because I was roundly unsatisfied with today's first take on Watched Pots, my brain decided it was going to churn out something else so that I'd catch up on the Day 1 poem I never wrote.  My research brought up Daedalus, and there were some things about him I'd either forgotten or never knew - this is a lovely summary of his story:

http://www.greeklegendsandmyths.com/daedalus.html

What struck me was that for all his skill, he seemed to have an ego the size of several universes - my SO pointed out that his pride cost him his son, and his jealousy of his nephew Perdix cost him his country (he tossed him off the roof! Only Athena saw, and turned Perdix into a partridge so he didn't die). My brain got fixated on this story, and the phrase 'falling from grace', and there it went.


DAEDALUS, FALLING FROM GRACE

It wasn’t a fall. I walked away.
Slithered away, I guess you could say
If you’re going to pick at details.
And it wasn’t from grace so much as it was 
From an aged conglomerate of ancients
Who decided this country would no longer be my home.

It wasn’t a fall. All right, it was a throw from a roof!
Perdix! How could I live it down if he were better than me –
Outstripped my achievements?
And he survived, as if his genius weren’t humiliation enough.
I should’ve known Athena would take a hand.
Once upon a time, it would have been me – her favoured apple.
How things have changed, when it’s raw striplings
That catch the eyes of the gods instead.

It wasn’t a fall from grace. It was a descent from godhood
Just before I could become god.

6 comments:

Shannon Blood said...

I very much enjoyed this poem -- the opening was definitely attention grabbing.

Smitha said...

This one's good Shuku, the previous one was too!Thanks for sharing the story with the poem. It was informative.

Shuku said...

Thank you Shannon! Funny thing is I had the opening in my head as this belligerent, somewhat cocky Loki saying it at me...had to get it out after that!

Shuku said...

Thank you so much Smitha! Yes, the story is fascinating isn't it? I didn't know half of them!

Anonymous said...

I am a bit behind with reading other peoples' poems, but this one was a gem! I am fond of Greek mythology since childhood, so this spoke to me on many levels :)

Shuku said...

Ileea, Greek mythology is fascinating isn't it? Daedalus is such an interesting character too. I'm so glad you liked this one!