Icarian Nation

On Manhattan did Dædalus
Build a labyrinth for the Sun
To capture rays in corridors,
In maze of streets, in riddle grid.

A gate was built at island’s tip,
Two Babel-inspired columns,
A new Stonehenge of steel to soar
To clouds, trap the Sun as it set.

Inside the double monoliths,
(Offices of trade, honeycombed),
They kept the golden Minotaur –
On shafts of light, the beast was fed.

The sons and daughters of progress,
The great Icarian nation,
Did sacrifice their lives to work –
One morning, day fell to madness.

Towers exploded as planes crashed
Collapsed, the cold steel turned molten!
On the streets, all gazed in horror –
People plummeting to their deaths.

How can the country bear the loss
Of three thousand of its children?
In vain they harnessed Sun’s hour.
The sky-built steel melted like wax.

Nothing’s left, but the human cost.
The Sun ignites leaves of Autumn.
Smoke in blue air still wafts sour
As the ironic Sun just laughs.