Icarus

    Villanelle for Justice

    2011

    She rages against the fading of light,
    Making the world less bitter, less dark:
    Her moonlit passion shines out in the night.

    When shadows are growing to ominous height;
    When justice corrodes and leaves acid marks:
    She rages against the fading of light.

    Each time that she finds a victim in plight,
    She looks for a flash of luminous arc:
    Her moonlit passion shines out in the night.

    When tyrants defend their merciless right;
    When gaps still get wider, contrasts more stark:
    She rages against the fading of light.

    In stormy dark seas where money is might;
    Where bankers and landlords feed like a shark:
    Her moonlit passion shines out in the night.

    Her fire gives me wings, her love gives me flight,
    And helps me to face my fears of the dark:
    She rages against the fading of light,
    Her moonlit passion shines out in the night.

    — Wayne Visser