I wrote this poem after learning of the death of the woman who gave me the Shona statue -- a sculpture  showing a mother and child joined by arms creating a circle connecting the two figures. My dear friend worked with me on original theater pieces produced by the Boston Theater Group, works that drew us close to  each other. The reference to Icarus is to one of her sons, who tragically took his own life. 

Karen S. Henry collaborated with director Herbert Blau and Kraken in creating and performing Elsinore, based on Hamlet, and Crooked Eclipses, based on Shakespeare’s Sonnets.  She co-founded the Boston Theater Group, producing works based on Kafka, Ovid, Shakespeare, and contemporary poetry. With composer W. Newell Hendricks, Henry received NEA grants for the operas The Cell and Ascona, and she currently performs and writes for Row Twelve Contemporary Music Ensemble. Her poems have appeared in BoomerLitMag, Cathexis Northwest, Crosswinds, Night Forest, Stoneboat, and the Literary Whip podcast from Zoetic Press. Her chapbook, All Will Fall Away, was published by Finishing Line Press.