Icarus by Edward Fields

"Yet all his books insisted that this was a mistake. What was he doing aging in a suburb?
Can the genius of the hero fall
To the middling stature of the merely talented?
And nightly Icarus probes his wound
And daily in his workshop, curtains carefully drawn,
Constructs small wings and tries to fly
To the lighting fixture on the ceiling.
Fails every time and hates himself for trying.
He had thought himself a hero, had acted heroically,
And now dreamt of his fall, the tragic fall of the hero;
But now rides commuter trains,
Serves on various committees,
And wishes he had drowned."

In "Icarus", Fields takes a modern spin on the Icarus story. In this excerpt, Icarus is a modern guy who is simply living out his days in a suburban household. Icarus seems to be someone who had a great life at one point, and then life started slowing down and getting harder; therefore he must miss what he once had and always long for such a thing. This excerpt is essentially saying, "I had so much then, what do I have now?". Fields takes this modern spin to convey the "live life to the fullest" lifestyle. He is explaining through Icarus that one should not allow themselves to regret their past, so they do not live their lives miserable. There should be no longing for what once was.