#achilles
I've never been one to rhyme,
An Achilles tendon persistent over time.
Chains that bind my hands,
Leaving my poems devistatingly bland.
It may ail me for life,
I may give up, after years of strife.
Someone told me free verse was harder,
I loved them too much to barter.
You see, rhyming is a skill I lack,
I take every syllable as a personal attack.
Failure is hard, unbearable,
But not trying is a shackle, unwearable.
4d ago
May 31, 2026 at 2:55 AM UTC
I used to hate the grey
And everything it stood for.
The cold
The waves
The friendships I outgrew.
I used to hide in my closet,
So I wouldn’t have to see it.
Six years later
I do not know love
But I imagine the wind around me
Sounds something similar to what Achilles heard
When Patroclus said they were gods.
Now I live for the grey
Like I live as the grey;
The cold settled in my bones,
The waves leak from my eyes,
The friends I learned to love,
And now I find comfort in the grey.
Feb 15
Feb 15, 2026 at 9:26 PM UTC
You are on a very long list
of those who can’t though
they persist.
Learn the lesson of Achilles
heel: there's something that doesn't want you here.
You hold tightly the images
of misguided faith, role
models and illusory joy.
But graven images topple
as slow as dry rot and
Pandora quietly fills your
box of toys.
Your house is projected
and frozen in time.
Twenty layers of
wallpaper are peeling
your mind.
Rooms untouched like
100-year-old Mason
jar preserves. You can't
eat fruit kept for so many
years.
Your choice of worlds
kept the patterns; no
new beginnings mean
the same old ends.
You may not break all
the rules, but you sure
make them bend.
Grace seemed to touch
you as you walked a
mile or two seemingly
content. But no matter
how amazing the grace
was, you can't be where
you never went.
As long as scapegoats
hang on crosses all along
this highway like rows of
pigs hanging bloodless at
the slaughterhouse, and
as long as Western
religious pop culture icons
and other social images
replace what is real, the roadblocks and washouts
will continue to keep you
there. Achilles protected everything but his heel.
Jun 26, 2025
Jun 26, 2025 at 8:57 PM UTC
I could stare at the sun
if I was promised I'd see your face.
I'd go blind searching for the bridge of your nose,
the crease of your eyelids, the curve of your lips.
In the visual silence I'd forever see you.
A promise held true.
Even in blindness, I'd still see you.
Mar 6, 2025
Mar 6, 2025 at 12:22 PM UTC
My beloved partner;
The hero of them all.
My beloved partner;
The greatest warrior of our time.
My beloved partner;
The prettiest of them all.
My beloved partner;
The devoted lover of mine.
My beloved partner;
A selfish man in disguise.
My beloved partner;
who doesn’t care who lives or dies.
My beloved partner;
A man with dignity.
My beloved partner;
Who let my blood soak in his hands.
My beloved partner;
A man with nothing left but himself.
My beloved partner;
Who can’t conquer his destiny.
Feb 28, 2025
Feb 28, 2025 at 11:20 AM UTC
just like the ocean kiss the shore.
I want you.
all of you
all the time
in my dreams
in my breaths
in my skin and bones
in my blood
I desire for us to be the great Patroclus and Achilles.
just like how the Achilles calls Patroclus "PHILTATOS"
and how the Patroclus knows Achilles in "DEATH."
I shall know you at the end of the world.
What I desire between us is their love to one another.
cause I am not ready to let you go yet.
but just like Patroclus
I shall long for you in the after world.
Dec 3, 2023
Dec 3, 2023 at 2:34 AM UTC
There, she lies on the altar
Almost held the sun she—
almost in her hands
Opened up, a rose-bud chaste
petal by petal by blood, with
a sting, so sweet and sweet, as
sunset reborn a bee; she was
gold and silver and black at once.
Almost held the sun she—
and no wax wings used
Oh, Icarus, love you did a wild sky,
— yourself a light-licked doom
as your father cried,
Your father cried for you.
A veil as simple sour starlight she wore
as wings of wasps as beetles she giggled
Icarus, flew that you
—and with tongue-tied elation too
Icarus,
she rambled on for hours long.
A letter she held in spring kissed hands
—I will wed you to the sun, her father had sworn.
The sun—and a sun he was,
child of the sea, some sword in honey
dipped; now her awaiting.
And blushed she did herself a dawn
The altar, on the altar.
Almost held the sun she—
Swallowed a mayhem for the father's sin.
Icarus, tell me of the plummet.
Tell me of the greens you saw,
of blues, of whites, of the whirling world—
Men go around around her
their soles all ready
to crush lost skulls an empty moor.
Twirling,
the dust, like may have her hair
before the wedding day
Strands and strands, gently styled—
Spears, swords, rubbed to mirrors,
to lakes lifeless
Armors and ships laden with life, with
sails, the fluttering doves;
As the winds dance once more—
as harbors vacated, as waves torn apart for the horde, as move they on— on too the sun— as
She still lies.
Icarus, Icarus, was it the ocean
that cupped its palms, or did the soil cave in
as down into dark's slick throat you slid?
Surely, was soft, the sea's well-loved mouth,
Surely soft or true
She lies on the altar
a trinket glossy on a hoof, a ****** in the bell,
how does one say—
the valley of lilies, she grew it inside.
Spilled out on the stones, they are fed
to the flies.
Almost held the sun she—
Icarus, must you know
You did not sleep a wretched silence
within the womb of war.
No crescent blades you drank down a leaking throat—
She lies on the altar, vanquished for moon
— for metal upon bone
for blood, for blood, for blood.
A father’s green promise—
Seasoned to rust before the king
Icarus, on the altar she lies—
a ripened land far, far away lures her king
to another rosy worship.
Icarus, Icarus,
on the altar
Aug 3, 2021
Aug 3, 2021 at 7:45 AM UTC
I never learn, I never learn
Keep mourning your ashes in the golden urn
You were the dawning sun opened wide
A purity I slaughtered for the god inside
I never fade, vague as fog, I never fade
Into the scarlet waters, I wade
Dusk weeps and deserted I wait
Wait, I wait, O timeless Patroclus, I wait
A thousand ships, all united, set sail
To free their heavenly queen and her veil
A thousand ships I could’ve let burn
Into the wretched battle had you not run
Rambles, rambles on this silent sea
Your extinguished heart will hear not a plea
You took all the humans in me along
This bleak divinity, worth not a single song
Never not do I hope, never not
I hope, I hope, in this despaired hope I rot
You lurk a painful past in my unseeing gaze
As rows upon rows of men I raze
In the halls of living, I search for your name
Your love-licked body I surrendered to my flame
I hear your starlit lips yell at me to stay
Achilles, Achilles, live, you ****** sun, they say
All my charismatic promises I forget
This wish, sweet moon, you shall not get
I tear then my heart in search of you
A river red as doom, and a stillness blue
I am here, Patroclus, now spare me this lone
My frenzied ghost screams soundless on
Our ashes kiss and kiss in the golden urn
I never learn, alas, I never learn
Jul 9, 2021
Jul 9, 2021 at 3:39 PM UTC
"dying is easy" they said looking over at achilles standing over patrolcus' burning shroud, tears in his rage filled eyes.
"to live in this world- now that is harder." they said turning their eyes away as achilles piercing scream rang out.
Apr 21, 2021
Apr 21, 2021 at 5:14 PM UTC
i long for a love
that will break me,
eat me whole
and spit me out aching.
i want to love
as achilles loved patroclus,
with a burning in my heart
and a madness
that would tear
even the fates apart.
Apr 11, 2021
Apr 11, 2021 at 5:43 PM UTC
i think i've realized
the ballads of your virtues
do not do you justice.
details of your murders
twisted to be heroic.
i pride myself in remembering things
no one else knows
like
how sweetly you sung
the softness of your cheek
the way your laugh bubbled up inside, infectious.
i am glad to have those memories for myself
call me selfish
but you were always
my achilles
-love, patroclus
Mar 9, 2021
Mar 9, 2021 at 11:00 PM UTC
Your heart must pump honey throughout your body
You are sweet
You stick to everyone you meet.
It shines throughout the golden locks
That fall gently from your head
Passed the nape of your neck.
You are everything bright
And everything beautiful.
As if the sun came down
To gently touch you at birth.
You are the light in everyone’s life.
Mar 6, 2021
Mar 6, 2021 at 12:26 PM UTC
i felt this sorrow once before
when your name spelled patroclus and mine achilles
Dec 27, 2020
Dec 27, 2020 at 1:34 AM UTC
Oh, Achilles, Achilles,
How they sing of your anger.
The merciless, unforgiving anger
Of which you felt at the loss of your Patroclus.
Why is there no melody of your melancholy?
The crushing weight, heavy on your chest,
The undesirable yearning to continue this life
Without your better half.
Oh, Achilles, Achilles,
Will you sing to me
About your agony?
Will you sing to me of how you sent
The one you adored the most
Into battle, baring your armor?
Oh, Achilles, Achilles,
Will you sing of how it made him
Into someone he did not know?
And as he went to you in a dream
And told you his last desire,
Did you know?
Oh, Achilles,
How he loved you.
Dec 23, 2020
Dec 23, 2020 at 12:24 AM UTC
The sweat streaming down my eye brow
Looking at the arrow in my ankle that was shot by Paris' bow
Oh my briseis, please don't cry
My shield and spear are always yours as i point it at the sky
Zeus, you have blessed me with immortality but oh i am cursed
All my life i've been killing men for another's thirst
Finally my chains have been broken, i can breathe
This cold feels nice, my sword at last in it's sheath
Nov 6, 2020
Nov 6, 2020 at 4:00 AM UTC
body like a Hoplite,
raised from the dust to lay the land-
sent armed
ashen spear and heart,
trunks of armour clad legs
growing into the clay coloured Earth
rooted.
these lyre-heartstrings taut with longing.
to see
a browbeaten Myrmidon,
in daylight.
watch, as the breath of Zeus escapes
Grecian chests,
concave with muscle
Olympus itself exists within those crevices.
i lay offerings,
ambrosia soaked spoken word
at the under-flesh of your calf
laying beside myself
in hope the whispers bestowed to you from the Fates
on the eve of Troy
mean less with your lips, pressed to wine, against mine.
Oct 25, 2020
Oct 25, 2020 at 4:29 PM UTC
did You dream of the war when We were young?
when the war was a far away nightmare
days were peaceful and no song was unsung
and doom was coming, with Us unaware
You were doomed to fight and be a Hero
and I, was a mere follower of You
yet You love me like there's no tomorrow
our love were something no one could undo
the Fates said no Hero could be happy
Gods and Goddesses were also unjust
so You defied them, tried so hard to be
as lovers and soldiers, We would attest
home was somewhere in our warmth and our eyes
alas war was cruel, it's gone as I died
Oct 22, 2020
Oct 22, 2020 at 8:56 AM UTC
I stand just beside you
unseen in your frame
How much ever I try anew
People identify me with your name.
We both have the same talent
but I'm ranked with the boors.
You are a famous gallant
As victory is always yours
We are still together
Smile, laugh and enjoy
But Deep inside I wither
Like Achilles in the war of troy
Aug 26, 2020
Aug 26, 2020 at 1:11 PM UTC
I want to bottle that feeling
warm August air
dappled green sunlight
pushing into your arms
feeling that steady
heartbeat of life
heavy on my chest
I loved it all
every second
swathed in a drunken haze
the way you held me
in the dirt
let me kiss
your brittle bones
showed me all the scars
whispered every secret
I'd drink it if I could
that world-bending elixir of
anything, everything
rapturous murmurings
and quiet moments
we floated in
backs to the water
with worlds swimming below
I want you, you
all of you
emerald eyes
gentle smile
wanderer of the heart
touch me in my darkest places
let me know I'm yours
no matter the distance
yours, yours
always yours
Aug 17, 2020
Aug 17, 2020 at 9:20 AM UTC
fierce and benevolent
these eyes of gold
warm and shattering against the light
of sunkissed skin on marble floors
he's sweet as figs
and sharp as a sword
and his heels pink and unmarred
by the heat of the sun
when our bodies touch for the first time
two souls intertwine
sewn together by threads of fate
i feel nothing other than him
and his gentle gaze and soft hair
but dawn comes around
during the pouring of blood from our cupped hands
onto tainted sheets
of dishonour and rage
and when i breathe my last breath
he roars, like a lion
loud enough for the gods to hear
and does not stop until his face hits the earth
with a smile.
Aug 1, 2020
Aug 1, 2020 at 9:52 AM UTC
He fought for honor with Achilles
Two brothers in arms against the world of treachery and deceit
No one saw the tender gazes that the two shared in their last goodbye
A final brush of their hands as they shake with an uncertain future
Patroclus knew he would die
Dressed in his lovers armour
At the hands of his lovers enemy
And in his death he'd bare his heart with one final grand gesture
He'd gladly exchange his life
For his beloved Achilles
Jan 13, 2020
Jan 13, 2020 at 8:07 PM UTC
we are milliseconds away from mortality, you and i,
your impending doom hanging over like suspense and the ghost
of your touch
lingers longer than zeus, hurts harder than your voice
the day is yet to break and the time
is a hair’s breadth between now and forever,
when the sun strikes you down i will fall with you
but for now, let us lie like gods in this space we call home;
wrists against wrists and teeth sinking into skins
Apr 22, 2020
Apr 22, 2020 at 6:03 PM UTC
Lost on the plains of ancient Ílion,
Treading the windswept soil and stone,
I sense the ghosts of warriors and horsemen,
Of dark-eyed women and jealous kings.
Their history scattered, burned and ruined,
Pressed by time and scavenging hordes,
Yet restored to life in song and verse.
When poets and imagining hearts were stirred
To find heroes among brutal soldiers
And reasons for violence masked as greed.
Shades of blue lost to time reappear.
In their winding brains goddesses walked,
Holding an aegis made that bore a Gorgon’s face
Or gods who guided arrows and chose the dead.
Bards ever kept alive the rival gods
Before whom King Priam bowed and Achilles defiled.
Across the grape-blood waters of the Hellespont,
Aphrodite savored her own victory and watched
As Paris still kept the women she had given him.
Love was not among her calculations
Nor those of Zeus when he forbade hindrance
By the gods, who yet battled among themselves.
As mortal enemies fought the coming of allies.
For ten years, ships and horses swarmed to aid
The unbowed city, even Memnon and Penthesilia,
Both slain by the sword for reasons then forgot,
So their sacrifices failed to dent a lust for blood.
Yet armies tired and war ended, as all wars do,
Through fatigue or fire or the scattering of slaves.
Now time has whitened the ruins and sands
And Boreas sweeps away the shards of stain
That dyed the cities’ walls and columns.
The scarlet buried below Herculaneum is gone,
And saffron gowns on dancing virgins,
All the horses’ indigo manes and hyakinthos
Sandals of Achilles, whose mother dyed them
Before he sailed, forgetting his Stygian bath.
He was clad in red to hide his blood,
So when wounded, his men would not cower.
Yet one arrow alone took his life; how telling
That more valiant men lost theirs closer to the soul!
Gone are the sheep, red-fleeced with madder
And argamon robes of brides and Cybele’s priests.
No sacrificial lambs or holy men walk here now,
On the bone white land and relics of a kingdom,
Yet the north wind, the lone god, continues to wail.
March 5, 2020
Mar 13, 2020
Mar 13, 2020 at 8:09 AM UTC
i understand the Greeks
When they wrote of boys
turning to men as
“in the flush of their strength”.
as if the tides of youth,
had burst it’s banks
flooding childhood, like the Mycenae
against Troy.
Jul 8, 2019
Jul 8, 2019 at 7:49 AM UTC