Remember Icarus

Remember who you were

before they clipped your wings

and said

you're not good enough.

When you laughed at the jokes

on popsicle sticks

and caught fireflies in jam jars.

Remember who you were

before they pinned you down

and demand you stay quiet.

When the worst thing about living

were scraped knees,

weekend homework

and the end of summer vacation.

Remember who you were

before they held you under that magnifying glass,

and scarred your skin with sunlight.

You build your wings again,

with candle wax and childhood dreams,

yet unlike Icarus

you know how the sun can burn.