Page 58 of Styx

made from countless pearls

for Tethys herself,

though at this moment,

the throne was empty,

its beauty incomplete.

Acaste and her sisters

led me there on the backs

of large sea turtles.

I thanked my sea turtle

with a gentle pat on the head

and sat uneasily on

a rock covered with soft moss

while the nymphs asked me

dozens of questions.

‘What is it like to own the stars?’

asked rosy-lipped Amphiro,

taking a fine seashell comb

to my long, untameable hair.

‘I don’t own the stars,’ I told

the gaggle of waiting nymphs.

‘I only help them fall

when they need to.’

Acaste scoffed at my words.

‘Callirhoe said you could melt

the stars at your whim.

That means they are yours!’

I sighed, trying to find the words

to explain that the caretaking of stars

was a responsibility, not ownership,

but just then Styx emerged