This is a narrative poem about Achilles, his early life, his parents, their love for him, Patroclus of course, always Patroclus, and the inevitable end.
This poet does drama in verse very very well. In fact I think they do narrative poetry better than most that I have read. If you love Achilles, the Iliad, and all that jazz, and can handle reading verse, you will love this. You really will. If you’re looking for battles and no internal angst imagery, it might not be your flavour.
I have a few favourites but these are not titled so I will struggle to name them. I shall add a couple of excerpts.
“Loving you was never going to be easy
How do you love the sun without getting burned?
But love you I did
And now there is only darkness
My hope eclipsed by your departure
And I’m lost once more in shadow”
“My hidden self
Content in conformity
Regretting to remember”
“And
so
it
begins
bloodshed
battle
and
glory
I
was
made
for
this”
There’s a nice mix of poems in here, some rhyming, some acrostic, some free verse. I noted the characteristic flairs from this poet, the background naming of each character (like Breaking Birds), and the good use of space. There are also some nice character pages with some art and a short blurb about each person. I am familiar with the story but for those who are not and like a refresher, this is helpful.
It’s dramatic, it’s heart wrenching, it’s poetic. I really recommend. I may need to buy this as a paper copy. And read it again.
I award 5 stars.
