Kronos is the cruelest Titan
                       Because of what he stands for.
                                    In front of.
                                     Above.

                  Because of the way he coaxes youth
                          Away from everything.
               The way he swallows all that is green
                                   And good
                                   And pure
                                 And innocent.

                    Because of the way he rips apart
                     The veil of gorgeous ignorance.
           The way he unfetters fear, once frozen by naivete,
                 And allows it to stand guard like Cerberus
                         Against any foolish enough
           To attempt to retrieve the things that he has stolen.

                            Kronos is the cruelest Titan
                      Because Time is the cruelest concept.
                              Because when you realize
                              That the man in the pine,
                            The man that flowers cling to
                                       Is not asleep,
                                 There is no going back.

                               Because when you realize
                               That things can hurt you,
                               That you are not invincible,
                             That you are of flesh and bone,
                                   Not mesh and steel,
                                 There is no going back.

                    Because this kind of fear begins at the roots
                           And Time helps it find its way
                        Along the stem and into the leaves.

                          Kronos is the cruelest Titan
                      Because of what he encapsulates.
                    The power that he has to level cities,
                    To fold skin in on itself over and over,
          To peel back our eyelids and bare our eyes to the truth,
                      The horrid, horrible, hellish truth,
                              That things change.

                          Time does not discriminate.
                           And it takes what it wants.