Daedalus after Icarus, a poem by Saeed Jones in his 2014 collection Prelude to Bruise, begins with a description of Daedalus on a beach being followed by a group of young boys pretending to be birds. The title already evokes a sense of loss, referring to the death of Daedalus’s son. The boys are described as carefree and clumsy, but a dramatic weight follows them. Their footsteps are described as burning holes in the sand, and, when they imitate flying in reference to Daedalus’ wax wings, the sand is described as tugging at their feet, pulling them back to the earth. The children are shrouded by a vague sense of imprisonment, much like Daedalus and his son were imprisoned in the Greek myth. Daedalus himself is hardly described at all in this sequence, as it is almost entirely focused on the boys. It isn’t until one of the mothers of the boys shouts out, joking her son should ask Daedalus to make her wings so she could leave her husband, that Daedalus stops his march and sprints into the sea. The boys follow him excitedly, and declare they no longer want to be birds. Instead, the boys declare they want to be fish. Throughout the poem, the children do not understand Daedalus, viewing him with a childish wonder, unaware of Daedalus’ true emotions or his past.
Daedalus is subtly portrayed as a fearful and unwilling father figure, never acknowledging the children and literally running away at the idea that he might contribute to a family. Perhaps he is traumatized from the loss of his own son, or perhaps the poem wants us to use that loss as a means to assume he is a bad father. Tragically, all the characters are bound together. Daedalus cannot fly away, and the boys continue to follow him. It is implied by the mother’s comments that they come from possibly abusive homes and fathers. The boys cling to Daedalus as an escape, not only is he a potential father figure, but he also provides a literal and figurative means of escape in his wax wings and the whimsy they bring to the boys. The poem, at least in my interpretation, ultimately portrays themes of the naivety of children and how it comes into contact with neglectful or abusive parents.