Clay

We are clay

Shaped by war

Even if we have never 

Fought a battle

Or met

Someone who has

The grandfather you

Never knew

Shapes you 

In his absence

Pulsing out the suffering

Seen

Across time

When he killed scores in the sun

Achilles did not know

But

When Patroclus died

He found out

What aristeia was

Simply blood spilling

Slowly pooling in the sand

Unmoving

The bringer of

Neither friendship

Nor grace

Back to him

War is the main character

In all our stories

Even if we never see its name

Written in our tales

Gene G. McLaughlin 2026

Image – Achilles Lamenting the Death of Patroclus – 1760