Page 14 of Styx

I had noticed how differently

my brothers were treated.

Despite their strange features,

no one whispered about their horns,

their tails, their coarseness.

It was only after they were born that I realized

that even though I was merely tolerated

for looking nothing like the vivid-eyed,

elegant beauty of my mother and aunts,

my brothers were celebrated

for their peculiar features, which were nothing

like the light that exuded from my father

and all his many brothers.

My Father Did Not Change

At least not then and not toward me.

Where my mother barely had time

to glance my way anymore,

my father did his best to make

an effort to carve moments with me.

Of course, he was preoccupied.

Crafting oceans and seas

and teaching his sons

the rules of godhood

took up much of his time.

But one day when I sat alone

on the sands watching his ocean’s

cerulean waters

devour the orange glow

of a setting sun,

he came to find me.