down from billings

 

It was prophesied that Kronos, king of the gods, would lose his throne to his son, just as he had taken rule from his own father. To vacate the prophesy, Kronos swallowed his children at their birth. But Rhea, his wife, saved one boy by giving Kronos a stone to swallow instead and spiriting the redeemed boy to Crete. As an adult, Zeus overthrew Kronos and imprisoned him on Tartaros in a deep pit. Centuries later, Zeus had mercy on his father, released him from his prison and put him on the throne of Elysium.

 

he lifted his chin, profile with mountain teeth

and breathed a breath, a little flit of a sound

loud as butterfly wing

 

down the divide at the wheel of the dodge,

he grew louder—was heard in winds

that ratcheted along knuckly ridges,

white as bones

 

eyes afire, bow-strong in the shoulder,

arms like knotted rope, hands like blacksmith tongs

big enough to wrap my head, all and then,

as if banished, none

 

separated from my father,

i have seen the mountains again

they aren’t nearly as big

their teeth not as sharp

the air not as clear

 

and he’s grown small,

frame crooked as an old door,

he limps, hair grayed, arms weak,

back bowed, he mumbles about weather

his eyes dark and cold