{"id":1286,"date":"2016-12-12T11:20:34","date_gmt":"2016-12-12T18:20:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/?p=1286"},"modified":"2016-12-11T19:31:12","modified_gmt":"2016-12-12T02:31:12","slug":"if-only-i-still-wore-those-wings-of-canvas-and-bamboo-by-wc-roberts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/?p=1286","title":{"rendered":"If only I Still Wore those Wings of Canvas and Bamboo by WC Roberts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"474px-rubens_peter_paul_-_the_fall_of_icarus\"<\/p>\n

12 stories above the drowned Cathedral grounds
\non the ledge, just under the spire’s roof
\nmy back against the wall, under the gargoyle
\nhis front talons outstretched, darkly angelic, he’d hardly save me
\nspewing ice-cold rainwater, he seems indifferent to my life and death<\/p>\n

while the choir of their passage, the Valkyrie
\ncircle in the blood-red sky
\npick out the heroes and villains from the battle still raging below
\ntheir souls aglow
\nwhether to Valhalla or to Folkvangr (their judgment)<\/p>\n

I remain invisible, beyond help or harm
\na ghost, simply
\nshivering
\nconvulsive with cold
\nshackled to the ledge and to the side of the wall
\nby sheer terror
\nmy fear of heights, and of falling
\nan observer<\/p>\n

if only I still wore those wings of canvas and bamboo
\nI wore in the mountains of Shangri-La!
\nto my own undoing, I admit<\/p>\n

Would that I could still do battle, and be judged
\nwould that I could fall into the fray
\nto change the tide
\nto cry my cry of ecstasy
\nas rage and blood filled my senses with power and might
\nsquandered on a cause I could not know<\/p>\n

so I am bound<\/p>\n

and in my own selfish vanity I cried–
\n’tis well I cry nothing, I’ve nothing to say<\/p>\n

illustration\u00c2\u00a0By Peter Paul Rubens – Web Gallery of Art: \u00c2\u00a0 Image \u00c2\u00a0Info about artwork, Public Domain, https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=5899524<\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

12 stories above the drowned Cathedral grounds on the ledge, just under the spire’s roof my back against the wall, under the gargoyle his front talons outstretched, darkly angelic, he’d hardly save me spewing ice-cold rainwater, he seems indifferent to my life and death while the choir of their passage, the Valkyrie circle in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poem"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1286"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1288,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1286\/revisions\/1288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}