Achilles

I saw a man this morning
Standing on a foreign shore 
From his eyes tears were falling
As he made ready for war
He shouted out a warning;
You slew my sweetest friend
And as sure as day is dawning
His death will be avenged

Was it so hard to die, Achilles
So very hard to die?
You know and I know not, Achilles
So much the happier I
You breached the walls of Troy, Achilles 
Slaughtered a thousand men
Patroclus is destroyed, Achilles
And can’t come back again

I saw a man this morning
Trudging through a muddy field
From the sky a shell was falling
With his name scratched in the steel
Lend him your shield, Achilles
Ask the gods to be his guide
All he has is A Shropshire Lad
With this poem scrawled inside

Was it so hard to die, Achilles
So very hard to die?
You know and I know not, Achilles
So much the happier I
Look to the starry skies, Achilles
Look to the silver seas
They do not live or die, Achilles
And neither do we

I saw a man this morning
He was turning fifty-three
And his pampered mind was turning
To thoughts of mortality
One day I will be nothing 
Think how funny that will feel

For we, the living
Death is the Achilles Heel