Achilles Lament

Beneath the shade of Troy's red skies, 
Where rivers weep with gods' disdain, 
My heart is chained, where valor dies, 
Its echoes lost in endless pain. 

Patroclus, light of mortal kin, 
No nectar quells this hollow ache. 
Your voice was balm, your eyes my sin, 
Now ruins rise for your sweet sake. 

The fields of Greece held beauty's grace, 
Yet fury bound my fleeting soul. 
Elysium shall scorn my face — 
I'd trade its peace for war's dark toll. 

A thousand spears I cast in flame, 
And spilled their blood to match your own. 
Yet still the Fates cry out your name, 
A dirge carved deep in hearts of stone. 

For what is glory? What is might, 
When towers fall, but you're no more? 
I’d burn Olympus, scale its height, 
To see you greet me at death’s door. 

The gods whisper, Athena pleads, 
But Nemesis shall have her way. 
I wage my war; my heart still bleeds, 
Their gold and sun are shades of gray. 

Oh, Antilochus, bold your cry, 
You pull me from the blade I seek. 
But reason's fled — I long to die, 
Without your hand, my strength is weak. 

Each Trojan slain, I see your face, 
Their blood the stream where you once fell. 
I drown in wrath, yet in disgrace, 
I build for you this pyrrhic hell. 

My mother weeps, the seas churn blue, 
But what is Thetis’ love to me? 
For human hands, both warm and true, 
Are all I crave, all I shall see. 

In dreams, your gaze still shapes the night, 
Your shadow strokes my fevered brow. 
I march through screams, their fading light, 
To hear you whisper… call me now.