Achilles & Patroclus

The sister poem to "Circe," this is an ekphrastic poem inspired by The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller and the painting, "Achilles Lamenting the Death of Patroclus," by Gavin Hamilton.

"Achilles Lamenting the Death of Patroclus" by Gavin Hamilton

If we were a song,

you’d be the lyrics of my soul.

No heroes are happy,

but I was the first.

When legends are written,

even the stars will remember our names.

Our music will pour from the golden urns

of the universe and follow us

to the deepest pits of Tartarus.

Like sun and moon,

born to be parted and dying to be together,

my dear, how strange it is to wake up

without you. I can still hear

his screams as well as I can feel

your blood,

yet Hector did not die from hate,

but from love

because that sun would tear apart the

universe, ignite the earth and sky,

and nothing could stop him

but the moon.