posted on 18 Dec 2022

Achilles' Father by Dan Whisker

Dan Whisker was born in Lancashire. He works as a songwriter in the Birmingham bands ‘Creatures of the Cosmos’ and ‘The Man with the Bloody Finger’ and in his spare time enjoys lecturing at Newman University, hustling pub quizzes, teaching children to build decent campfires and taking long solitary walks. To his shame, he is notably bad at football.

 

Achilles' Father

In August he thrashed me at ultimate frisbee
Threw an impossible throw.
September, smashed all my conkers,
Struck blow after impossible blow.
In October, in goal, stopped every shot
And scored five of his own
In November, at swimming, scored 9.8
For his dive, and took gold
At Christmas. he messes around and is bored
While shepherds and angels and Mary rehearse
Poor Joseph, on stage, has his eyes on the door
'Peleus.'.... I think...'it could have been worse.'