The gods are among us.
Zeus sits at a noisy bar. He'll drink a million different drinks and the girls he smiles at will raise their eyebrows and clutch the phone in their hands just a little bit tighter, thinking of the pepper spray in their pocket. They'll think of him again as they walk home tonight./
Poseidon wanders the shores aimlessly. He has nowhere to go anymore. Even a god couldn't change all this. Plastic bottles in cigarette butts fill the sand that was once white and pure. His tears mix with the seawater as he realizes he could have stopped them sooner.
Hades sits back on his throne, watching people all too young enter his kingdom. But for just a few, he will send them back, deciding they left a little too soon. Those are the lucky ones. He smiles to himself because people will always believe in death, and he has finally beaten his brothers at something.
Athena sees students slaving over their homework. She watches them struggle to keep their eyes open in class as yet another teacher drones on, trying to kill time. She scoffs at teachers just going through the motions. She carries signs and screams with students about the newest problem, but there are too many. She paces across campuses and stares at the awards and trophies hidden behind glass cases. When did football become more important than english?
Hera waits at home. She knows the girls the others were seen with. She has their accounts open in a million different tabs as her hands fly over her keyboard. In her spare time, she visits the few households left unbroken, but even those aren’t perfect anymore. She listens to mothers screaming and fathers working until late in the night. She wonders why almost half of marriages in the US end with divorce. Even she, the goddess of marriage, couldn't save hers.
Hermes sprints through big cities and rides the subway. His hands find their way into the pockets of millionaires, but his words get him there. But what use is mortal money to a god? He never stops laughing.
Apollo is the musician on the streets. He’s wearing worn out jeans and a jacket that smells like regret. His lonely notes fill the musty winter air, dust settling on his shoulders. People think he’s a beggar, but he has nowhere else to go. His hat rests on the ground, quarters and dimes littering its bottom - a small tribute, but a welcome one.
Ares are the bloody knuckles and sweat dripping down people’s faces. He is the soreness in your muscles as you get back up yet again. He watches men spend time at the gym because they don’t have a choice, remembering the time before he lost control of it all. He glares as booted feet connect with the ground underneath him. The fight club is his temple now.
Aphrodite watches pageants and competitions with regret. Who are the judges to decide who wins this ridiculous parody of the olympics, one where most of the game happens backstage? She scrolls through her instagram feed, seeing only the most perfect pictures of people. Deep down, she knows they were only smiling for the photo. She sees young girls go on diets and try fads, hearing about the latest trends. She sees them skip lunch and pile on makeup. When did the word “pretty” become synonymous with the word “pain”?
Dionysus stands behind a bar, mixing yet another drink. He serves rough men and pretty girls, both are here to forget the pains of the world. You can find him later, holding back girls’ hair and stopping fights. The girls were too young for what they drank, and the men were too old to be fighting. But he drinks most of all, as he was rejected by everyone he knew and abandoned by the only family he had.
Artemis helps a beaten girl to her feet. Holding her shaking body close, pouring water into a cup as if it's going to help. She wipes the tears from her eyes and covers her in a blanket. She stopped telling people “it’s going to be okay” a while ago. She’s been around far too long for lies like that. She prepares to hunt for those who stole the girl’s happiness. These are the only hunts she participates in now.
- floyd <3
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