Achilles

Here is a poem I found by Jeffrey Hull, a pediatrician that writes poetry in a blog. He titles it, "Achilles: Reflections on, well Reflections"

Achilles would not see old age nor wife,

His sea-nymph mother Thetis had foretold;

The choice was storied glory or long life,

And fame was far more dear than growing old.

Undying life, to be forever free

Of earthly bonds of body, time and space:

To break those ties and live in memory,

A tale three thousand years could not efface.

But mortal I obediently stand

Before this cold-eyed mirror every day

And note how little worked out as I planned,

And idly note my body's slow decay.

But if Achilles lived, he lived not so—

And I've got this to do, and there to go.

© 2005 Jeffrey Hull

You can find more of his poems at: http://jwhull.blogspot.com/