Imagine the impossibilities

how to love a god:

i. 
stay away from him. legends
are never boys. gods
were never people. gods
do not love.

ii. 
despise him. who does he
think he is? the proud jaw,
those seaborne arms,
fleeting sparrow-feet
planted on the earth as if
the world belonged to him?

iii. 
watch. the quick turn of
mouth, the gold of his hair backlit
against the sun shining like a halo.
if you get too close he’ll burn you
to ash. if you get too close
he’ll destroy you.

iv. 
watch him watch you.

v. 
when he kisses you back
hold your breath. do not breathe.
you are only a small and foolish boy
chasing the tail of a meteor
destined for the heavens. if
you breathe, you will burn.

vi. 
making love to him feels
like building a home, doesn’t it?
here, the oars of his shoulders.
here, the temple of his thighs.
here, his mouth whispering
your name in worship.

vii. 
when the war comes
watch his laughter grow cold and
his hands tender themselves red.
that is a statue in your bed.
that is a man turned to stone
from ten thousand stares.

viii. 
you put on his clothes on
to save him from himself.  
you put his clothes on
to spend your last breath
inside him again.

ix.
you know what will happen
and you do it anyway.
you burn because this is what
it means to love. this is what
it means to fly.

x.
recall the tale of Icarus.
choose to be Icarus.

—

Natalie Wee // Patroclus Dreaming 

(Achilles Dreaming)

how to love a mortal:

i.
stay away from him. gods
do not love. you are a god.
do not love something
that will someday die.

ii.
small-boned, soft-hearted,
voice smooth as stones.
when he breaks his ankle
you think to yourself:
oh, how easily the world
wounds him. oh,
how easily he bleeds.

iii.
he kisses you first. he
is thirteen and human
and he will someday die.
do not kiss him back.

iv.
you say: mother, can
a god love a boy?
thetis sharpens her teeth.
she says: well, what good
has love ever done?

v.
you were born a weapon
but you kiss him anyway.
you kiss him because
he is beautiful and temporary
and you do not yet understand
what it means to kill.

vi.
making love to him feels
like being remade, doesn’t it?
here, the knife in his mouth.
here, the starlight in his eyes.
here, his sweat on your tongue
like salt of the river Styx.

vii.
in this dream, you
kill Agamemnon.
in this dream,
there is no war.
in this dream, 
he lives forever.

viii.
he puts your clothes on
and you forget he is mortal.
he puts your clothes on
and he forgets it, too.

ix.
when the world burned,
your mother whispered:
you knew, didn’t you?
i told you
not to love something 
that will someday die.

x.
you do not say:
i knew, but i was selfish.
i am a god.
it is my nature.

—

Natalie Wee // Achilles Dreaming

(Patroclus Dreaming)

(via momonyaro)