In the Shade of Achilles’ Shield

Part 4 of the Trojan Chronicles – Achilles reflects on Helen and the love of his life.


 

 

“Fresh rain

 a welcome spray to dampen the day –

sitting in The Coleherne,

on The Old Brompton Road,

watching the sunset traffic flows,

when he comes out framed

against the steep entrance to The Mansion Block,

thigh ripped shorts,

t-shirt plated to his chiselled chest,

stands, looks,

and I begin to anticipate his kiss.”

 

It was written; Troy would be my death

and much would then be said and seeded

into the parasitic shibboleth,

making sure truth and reality receded.

 

It is her-story, and hers alone,

the likes of me purely bystanders

lifted by her grace, each given a throne,

and honoured to be her defenders.

 

She emerged crispered for greatness,

skies, seas mirrored to reflect her face,

beauty untouched by the bitchiness

of brushes shading her with disgrace.

 

I, too, have felt that repellent paint,

applauded and ridiculed in turn,

hero now, next a cross-dressing taint.

Let these trolling commentators burn;

 

I am who I am, a man divine,

In love and loved by an other;

I grieved when he died before his time

suited in my armour, which proved no harbour

 

from the cuts of the Trojan swords.

I carried him back into my tent,

lay with him until my grief was spent,

and then I hacked out Hector’s cords,

dragged his corpse around the citadel,

cursing each, all to the deepest hell.

 

Patroclus was more than a fellow warrior;

I did not mourn him as a brother,

I mourned him as one mourns a lover;

the world no right to judge me further.

 

“Seated on our balcony beneath Achilles’ shield

we watch the sunset slowly fade

sinking in the glassed front stained glass of The Troubadour,

and we hear from within the bronze

rising his arrested spirit sing

of the need to be true in our skin,

remind us we are all God descended,

unique, each a myth in the making.”

0 0 votes
Rate This Writing
Subscribe
Notify of
20 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Guaj

You seem to have started a trend, B. Lot of history about today. 😉

Excellent poetry, but I am not wise enough to comment on the contents.

Last edited 2 years ago by Guaj
ifyouplease

a passionate write learned a few words here, yes the rhapsodies can really inspire and to be honest there hasn’t been a genius that has not heard of them or read them, that’s a common platform, these big poems are qualified to become the OS of human thought (some Greeks believe Homer was punished because he spilled the beans and revealed too much). and if Guaj says that Tolkien’s invented mythology is what could shape perhaps his thought after reading Tolkien’s work, maybe he should think again, Tolkien was shaped already.

Guaj

Did I say that? I wasn’t aware my thoughts have been shaped. If they have it’s unlikely to be fantasy, be it Tolkien or Homer. The events within my personal life have done a very thorough job of that.

PS from what I’ve read of Tolkien’s early work, it was very influenced by his religion (God and Lucifer) and that most certainly had no effect on my thoughts (apart maybe disappointment).

Last edited 2 years ago by Guaj
ifyouplease

we should be suspicious of even the thought behind the thought, the writer behind the writer, the husband or wife behind our spouses. there is always something alien and concealed throughout the spectrum of life. some of us feel yonderly most of the time because of that.lots of things happen in the field of our unawareness dear Guaj. and even a comma can trigger us, the role of pausing and hesitating to continue in speech has a specific purpose. Tolkien and ancient Greek mythology just google it and read the results.

Last edited 2 years ago by ifyouplease
Guaj

Tolkien’s fantasies interested me. Douglas Adam’s Fantasies interested me. Greek fantasy doesn’t. Horror or horrors!

I guess that makes me a dismissive ignoramus in many people’s eyes. So be it.

I like vanilla ice cream, but I don’t like strawberry ice cream 🙂

Last edited 2 years ago by Guaj
ifyouplease

yes, I also have negative predisposition towards indian mythology for some reason but I know that most of the writers and poets I like have no such thing and read it extensively. that’s what I’m saying.

ifyouplease

since we talk about mythology and it’s a word you all use, I’m the Greek among you and it is natural to try and explain what it’s all about because I know the language/the code as a native speaker. the word mythos in greek is an anagram, μυθος, θυμός. thymos is most commonly used to describe anger, but the root the ancient one of this word is the soul the breath of life and of course emotion. mythology is psychology and no wonder Carl Jung for example was so interested in Bardo Thodol’s mythology. These are not fantasies, but yes… Read more »

ifyouplease

yes but what if strawberry ice cream was white like vanilla ice cream and vanilla was coloured pink… how would that affect you? and where would you be where would anyone be without these qualities irrespective of how negative or positive they are in our opinion? who or what defined the end result of our individual perception of our senses and is this the path that leads to who we are? the bottom line is to search until we reach the unaffected part of our identity and claim it by becoming aware of it.

ifyouplease

My existing blogs are all private and I don’t know if I will repost Depressurized again, since I have expressed it with adequate lucidity in this prose poem here is my reply to your question about the unaffected part: the distance that separated me from you was bigger than the hug God could give the world. I have reached the level beyond levels, emptiness asphyxiated me with its abundant freedom from everything. all was inside me and I was inside all. I couldn’t see hear smell sense any trace of you ……. and that’s how my limits expanded or should… Read more »

Guaj

If strawberry ice cream had always been white and vanilla pink then it would make no difference to me. Blind people can make that preference without as sense of colour as they would if they read Tolkien and the Greek classics in brail. If the colours were reversed halfway through my life I would be suspicious until I tasted them and preferred the pink vanilla. If I was fluent in French for example perfectly translated versions of Tolkien and Greek writings would not affect my preferences. However, the nuances of the two languages may give a different perception, in the… Read more »

ifyouplease

yes, but there is a but, being clear enough to be adamantly certain of one’s preferences, the neutrality needed to reach such a permanent conclusion should not be lost in the process of the final evaluation. a neutrality that should not be categorized as tolerance or intolerance and should be devoid of all qualities. then it becomes a choice of free will to hate one flavor and love another irrespective of ‘you love what I hate’ – because it is very often a choice defined by other antipathies tolerated or not around us which have nothing to do with the… Read more »

ifyouplease

Dear Guaj, you said
Leaves me cold to be honest
Give me Tolkien’s version of science fiction any day

if this mythology leaves you cold (Roman Greek) and you are fond of Tolkien’s that’s your preference and you have every right to love like etc what you find pleasing and rewarding.

but whenever we find something pleasing or rewarding whenever we are fond of something, we have been transformed by it, we have been shaped. You didn’t say that. I just searched the comment that made me say what I said. If I misunderstood your words please accept my apologies.

Guaj

Hello Nic Yes I did say that but I also joked you would kill me if you read this. As a Greek person you must be very proud of being blessed with the mythology that has influenced the thinking of European (and beyond) people for centuries and quite rightly so. Not to mention some great philosophers and thinkers. To say it leaves me cold is a little unkind and I’m sorry for saying it that way. On further thought I would better have said the snobbery around showing off the knowledge of Greek mythology leaves me cold and I guess… Read more »

ifyouplease

the title is very telling, in the shade of Achilles shield, in the shade, what creates the spectrum of human experience, that shield was not ordinary, it depicts normal life in peace time and life as a whole for human purposes for mortals. so a man who’s the owner of this shield retaliates, an Odyssey will begin after this collective Vendetta ends, I could go on and on and on.

ifyouplease

Achilles is an anti-hero, I always hated his guts. I was glad when Odysseus found a way to conquer Troy, I suggest you to go find any studies especially by Greeks or non europeans regarding these epopees. There could by Japanese studies too, some over there know it by heart in ancient Greek.

ifyouplease

maybe you could read another poet’s poem here on uka and perhaps some comments

https://ukauthors.com/2019/01/27/uproot-the-dead/

ionicus

Bhi, if I may be excused for butting in, I’d like to point out that the poem in question is not by IYP but by someone called Ross. He has put a link to his blog but it seems that only invited readers can read it. Go figure!

Dodgem

Apart from the elegant and masterful verse, I still like the juxtaposition between the modern and the ancient Iliad; this is becoming most engrossing – and more to come?
Dougie

griffonner

Once again I enjoyed another part of your Chronicles. On top of that, I have enjoyed reading the comments that precede mine. I was fascinated by Greek ‘mythology’ as a child, but I must confess that it was a ‘phase’: Not one forgotten in its entirety, but no longer appearing like a desirable ice-cream (to steal from the comments below) that I no longer consume with the avarice I once did. That said, my present alternate preoccupations do not in any way detract from what you have written, the way you have written it, AND its rhymes: I don’t always… Read more »