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The two of them had grown up close
Inseparable, like brothers
Achilles was the moon, he was bold and sure
He's always wanted to go to war
Patroclus was the sun, shone as a muse
His heart was up for open bright world views
They fought with swords, Achilles won
They fought with words, hail Patroclus
They always knew they'd different paths
They enjoy each other while it lasts
So why then, reader, do I tell
Of these two soldiers that have fell
Achilles was a man of legend,
The other barely worth a mention
The darkest night still needs the sun
If you want to see it clear
No one gripes about the moon
Not to bright, or hot, or soon
But the sun, it's an acquired taste
One that Achilles longed for
You see, the Greeks were open folk
They shared their love just like a joke
No judgements, true, but for me and you
It won't be retold that way
Do you remember, Achilles of Phthia?
When Patroclus played his lyre?
He showed you how to pluck the strings
To strum the sound deep in your heart
So it can beat to the breath of your soul?
You tried, oh gods, to match his tune
But you just couldn't think
Afraid that if this moment passed
He'd be gone just like a blink.
How right you were to worry,
How wrong you were to scurry.
He begged you not to go
But he already knew
You were already spoken for
You'd always wanted to go to war
You told him you'd be back some nearby days
Right again, but in all wrong ways
How could you let it go this long?
You hung onto to that moving song
The one he sang you before you left him
But soon enough they did request him
You see, you'd fought so hard and hadn't died
But so, too, had the other side
You called for more young men to fight
And to your camp came the light
Your sun, Patroclus, the man so dear
You begged him also to stay clear
But live had spoken to his heart
He'd always been sensitive, emotional
You knew he was a man of art
“Yes, I'm scared, but not of death
You're invincible, Achilles, the very best.”
“But for you, my love, it is not so
Return to Opus, please go home.”
“And turn on my people? My family, you know.
I cannot do it, our purpose was shown.
You cannot deny what you, too, want also.
And from this great battle our story will blossom.”
A way with words, the man always had
Achilles, he worried, but understood
It shook him, yes, but duty called
He was fighting for his world beside his sun
The first night scared him, when all men should march
He cast aside the fear in his heart
He had a mission, he was a soldier
But Patroclus wasn't, he was a poet
Ignore it, move on, there's no changing it now
Could he save Greece and his sun, somehow?
Alas he could not, for right at the start
The first to fall was his heart
O woe, to the the soldier, who lost so much
Invincible flesh and but wounded so deep
His demeanor changed, his men had seen it
He shined no more
A moon without a sun
His features darkened, he'd lost his sleep
He wished he could feel so that he could weep
But he was so empty, and agony came
It turned into a bitter rage
He stripped off his armor and clothes all the same
He challenged his enemies to let arrows rain
His skin was like iron, he knew he was safe
But he begged to join in his lover’s place
The gods took pity, it seemed, for what he had lost
Struck by an arrow where his skin was just mortal
He gasped from pain he'd never felt
Had his curse been lifted, did his armor melt?
He fell to the ground, and his head turned over
Right towards the sun, and smiled
Deep down he knew it was smiling back