The Triumph of Achilles
Feb. 6th, 2011 03:38 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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greatpoetryby Louise Glück
In the story of Patroclus,
no one survives, not even Achilles
who was nearly a god.
Patroclus resembled him;
they wore the same armor.
Always in these friendships
one serves the other, one is less than the other:
the hierarchy
is always apparent, though the legends
cannot be trusted –
their source is the survivor,
the one who was abandoned.
What were the Greek ships on fire
compared to his loss?
In his tent, Achilles
grieved with his whole being
and the gods saw
he was a man already dead, a victim
of the part that loved,
the part that was mortal.
In the story of Patroclus,
no one survives, not even Achilles
who was nearly a god.
Patroclus resembled him;
they wore the same armor.
Always in these friendships
one serves the other, one is less than the other:
the hierarchy
is always apparent, though the legends
cannot be trusted –
their source is the survivor,
the one who was abandoned.
What were the Greek ships on fire
compared to his loss?
In his tent, Achilles
grieved with his whole being
and the gods saw
he was a man already dead, a victim
of the part that loved,
the part that was mortal.
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no subject
Date: 2011-02-06 05:57 pm (UTC)Do you happen to have a date of publication for this?
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Date: 2011-02-06 06:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-06 08:52 pm (UTC)