the waning sun

Ziqra Zarook, Sri Lanka

the sun knows yearning, this perpetual
wanting, like almond skin in between teeth,

| and apollo calls out for icarus, clawing
desperate for the horizon eons later

the sun catches us unawares in the three pm light,
strange reverence turning mediocrity into myth-
and we were once shiny, pretty things,
autumnal honey-glaze, sticky sweet offerings-

| the father warns the son about the chase
and the son, dutiful to a fault, always listens,
and the sun beckons, and apollo, he weeps
and it is only human to seek heaven where we go

the sun still remembers sometimes
the way our skin shone lustrous,
bronze and gold in the dappled light

| icarus hears the sun’s laugh, a gentle caress, thinks
this is love, calloused palms on peach skin

love plays a melody on the flute-
we too, once-hedonists tempting fate,
run blindly into promised glory

| my icarus, a fool in love, chases the sun, thinks,
love is weightless as he sinks into death

the sun still remembers sometimes
you and I, once all shine and yearning,
sullying our way into early graves.

Ziqra is a Sri Lankan-born medical student looking to connect with the larger world through literature and poetry. Her works revolve around growth, mental health and changing perceptions. She has been published in various undergraduate magazines and online journals.