Atlas, the Titan who was punished by Zeus.
Burdened to carry the heavens, he walks slowly,
His muscles strain, he grits his teeth as the sphere full of stars continues to grow.

Above him, constellations dance, unaware,
Unmoved by the weight they press upon his back.
Atlas’s shoulders bear worlds that he’ll never touch,
A universe of light bound to his bones in darkened chains.
He remembers freedom like a song half-forgotten,
The days before duty sealed him to this fate.
Yet, no one looks back to see the man bent low,
The silent guardian of the stars’ cold glow.

I was his lover, his friend
Yet, he kept pushing
Refusing to let go
The heavens kneeling his figure more and more
As others pass by him without a single glance

“Why?” I asked him “Why not let it go?”
He looked at me with his sad eyes
And said,
“Someone has to carry them”

A star shot through the space within the sphere
As he fell more and more in love with his burden
And slowly forgot about me

So, I, too, became a shadow among the stars,
Watching him fade, bound to his fate.
I whisper his name to the heavens he bears,
Knowing he’ll never hear me through that endless weight.

Years later, I saw him again, set in stone
Those beautiful sad eyes I fell in love with
Permanently fixed forward
Until the end of time.