Haven\u2019t you noticed\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The heroes we dream of becoming<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Are the ones in stories of tragic flaws and short-lived joy,\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Not dancing in the\u00a0orchestra?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We hope to embody the heroes standing center-stage<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Flaws and all, vulnerable to the crowd<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Accepting each fall, each failure with hope<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Striding into their tragedies, masks tumbling off the stage.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For what life do you live<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If it is one of suffocation behind\u00a0the mask of feigned contentment?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n How could it be a hamartia, a wounded heel to care?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We stand in the chorus of appalled bystanders pretending not to want a spectacle of our own<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The unnamed, masked faces warn of my certain exodos<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But how can I reach Sicily without a detour through Crete?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For the ones who succeed are the ones to show their face, step out from this mask,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Risk the failure in hopes of success.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For who remembers a face always hidden?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For who would read of Phobos rather than Icarus?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I will skip\u00a0hand-in-hand, dance that daunting path joyously with the furies\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n To meet Thanatos<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For I\u2019d rather experience that catharsis in the now than dwell on the comforting prologue.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Though Icarus\u2019 journey was his last\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n An end of loss, melted wings, burnt flesh<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Of confidence, of believing enough in freedom to risk life itself<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He learned not to simply survive but to<\/span>\u00a0soar\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n To sip and savor that intoxicating freedom like Dionysus,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n To throw his head back like\u00a0Gelos.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Now, they can use me as a cautionary tale as they do Icarus,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But above all in life<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I long to soar as Icarus did.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n To rip off my mask and cackle with the maenads.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Even if just for a moment,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I wish to see my feet leave my exile, feel the sun on my face,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n To feel that wind beneath my wings.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Autumn Bartle Haven\u2019t you noticed\u00a0\u00a0 The heroes we dream of becoming\u00a0 Are the ones in stories of tragic flaws and short-lived joy,\u00a0\u00a0 Not dancing in the\u00a0orchestra?\u00a0 \u00a0 We hope to embody the heroes standing center-stage\u00a0 Flaws and all, vulnerable to the crowd\u00a0 Accepting each fall, each failure with hope\u00a0 Striding into their tragedies, masks tumbling… <\/p>\n