A poem inspired by “Song of Achilles”

Fleeting feet

A whisper above the grass

A strong shoulder hurling 

A spear

Red, red, rusty red

You kiss the blood soaked

Grounds of the earth

Yet you do not reach for me

Buried,

With an arrow through my heart

But my heart is yours

So who is it piercing truly?

This and This and This

They say that the 

Worst punishment of

All is to be left behind

When another is gone

To walk through life

Knowing that your

Love is not walking

By your side

But it is not true

I think perhaps 

That the worst punishment

Of all is quite the opposite

To leave this world first, to hear you wail and grieve over me

To see your starlit eyes once filled with mischief

Flood with tears

And not be able to wipe them away

This and This and This

From boy to man I have grown with you

Seen foreign lands and prophecies fulfilled

I have seen war and death

The rise and fall of an empire

I see you as though looking

Through ocean water

Rippled, unclear

This world, yet somehow another

My ears bleed as

Your screams of sorrow

Rip through forests

And level cities

This and This and This

You were the 

Downfall of Troy

The mortal boy who was not 

Quite so

18 years to prepare 

For you and then

I am gone,

In an instant

Memories flash before my eyes

Exile, climbing trees in Phthia, studying with Chiron

But your emerald eyes and golden hair

Stays on the forefront of my mind

My last thought is of you strumming 

A gold tipped lyre,

Your lilting, carefree voice

Enveloping me in a warm embrace

This and This and This

Ashes may mingle

But my name has yet to be written

Among yours

We have yet to be united

Your mother sits at our grave

And I have never felt such hatred

A emotion mostly unknown to me

Stirring within my chest

She made you this way

She cared for another child above you

She wished us to be separated

She rejoiced when I perished

This and This and This

My spirit whispers in her ear

To let me have peace 

And be with you once more

Her face remains numb

It is done, she tells me.

 I see my name,

Written with yours

Swirling font on stone

Pulled through the ground

Golden light shining down 

As though from the heavens

I grasp your hand in mine

You say my name with tenderness and compassion

Because even in death,

We are two souls

Stitched into one

But I am made of memories

And only yours rings true

Fore I am with you at last

Achilles