4. Back Then
Back Then
Oceanus’s palace was still new,
a beating sapphire jewel
in the heart of Gaia’s earth.
His great river’s waters,
which eventually became
the seven seas and five oceans,
ran azure, cerulean, turquoise,
every shade of lazuline blue
you can imagine under the sky
all around the palace.
My father had built
his chambers above ground,
the floors made of thick,
impenetrable diamond glass,
just transparent enough
for us to see the waters below.
Imagine an impossible island palace
full of the banks
of this great river,
not far from the golden
shores of his first ocean.
It was a lonely place at first,
for my grandmother’s
premonition stopped my parents
from having any more children.
I spent a childhood alone,
playing with oysters and dolphins.
My mother would brush my long,
poison-green locks
and tell me stories
about the silver fish
and sea creatures
that surrounded our palace.
I wish I could say I missed company
but you do not miss
what you do not know.
It was only when my uncles
and aunts began to create
their own progeny
that my parents thought
to make me brothers
and sisters.
It was only when they met
their nieces and nephews
that they realized
they had made
a terrible mistake
with me.