Flumes Vol. 6: Issue 1, Summer 2021 | Page 74

65

WHEN WE CAN DO NO MORE:

An Ode from Thetis to Achilles

China Myers

From the moment your eyes opened, I fell in love with U

Saw who U were, adorned with beauty and a godlike essence so pure

but just one flaw...drops of humanity’s blood made U ...

Mortal ... U were – mortal, and so U must remain

Through battle and war wounds your body will refrain

Thanks to the god’s precious gift of foam and watering licks

I hung U upside down, only your ankles left mortally sick

Dipping U whole into the River Styx

You dangled there with strength - NO fear in U

My beautiful brave boy now made anew

Protected from man, but not from FATE

Given a chance of glory or long life – but no escape

Did I prime U for this life fairly, or was it a mistake?

Baptized in god’s water - a dip was all it would take

The waters glistened with reverence

At the godlike child who would be

It was all I could do, all I could share

I had heard the oracle’s prophecy

And I was racked with fear

Of how Death would become U and chariot U to his lair