THE DAY I REJOINED YOU

oh did mother haunt me
each step of the way
with her bleak midnight hair
wrapped about my play
with chiron, the centaur,
teacher of all the best,
from heracles to jason
and even asclepius.

the sun woke over pelion
high in the sky
and oh! did i hear your cries
from the palace where we slept
for my feet were upon the earth
and yours nestled between sheets
sprinkled with oils of lavender
and lilies
to hold my scent for longer
but i knew you were eager
i could hear the crunch beneath
your feet—of leaves of autumn,
although it dawned spring,
and the wriggling of insects
beneath your wings.

"let's wait a little longer,"
i begged chiron eagerly
as my eyes laid transfixed on the
forest, awaiting those honey
eyes and childish smile
that had once hated me so dear.
i missed the curve of your lips
that were kissed by the sun
and perhaps it was my youthful
thoughts that wished me to
be it—to know
those lips as i knew your
face and smell
and smile and walk.

over the sky did the sun
dim, and the moon seemed
to open its eyes of
embers dark and plain,
with starlight twinkling,
and evermore did i await
your name—

—and there you were,
beneath my legs,
as i had sprung to you
a deer in the midst of
fright and horror, i pounced
before you,
knowing that smile,
knowing that skin,
knowing those honey eyes
amidst the dark of mothers chin.

"patroclus"
i spoke your name
and for a second you softened
your face and met my own,
together again
as it was always said
achilles and patroclus
destined by fate.

i can not express in words the joy i felt when you arrived, patroclus.