SONGS OF OURSELVES

❦ porch

in the stare

so in between

i'm feelin bold

i'm in a dream

i am a mess

i am no god

it's just the flesh that

bend of the stars

❧ little dragon, "brush the heat"

Cruelty was men's business, but mourning was women's work and there was no time to waste.

The neighborhood quickly banded together once they saw Sunkanmi lugging impossibly-large tree logs across her lawn. Her grim expression, dusty clothes, and dim hearth could only mean one thing: a death in the family.

Taking up arms, the able-bodied women provided free labor and sweat while the children and elders brought nourishment and kind words.

Sunkanmi silently accepted their help and together all twenty women toiled to construct Ebulla's funeral stack in the nearby meadow, flush with her favorite flowers.

They sought to finish before the rot set in and flies infested her chest cavity. As if by magic, they hammered the final nail at dawn the next morning, shirts wet with effort and tears.

The women waited for Sunkanmi's final word and, not one for grandiose speeches, she struck a match and threw it high, setting the wood ablaze. The pyre ignited instantly.

Inspired by the flame, the ladies, witches, and matrons writhed in the meadow, beating their chests and wailing at the injustice.

Ebulla, taken too soon.

Ebulla, the best of them.

Ebulla, mother of a Hero.

Meanwhile, Sunkanmi...

Sunkanmi stood tall amidst their grief and said nothing. Almost eerily stoic.

There must be some mistake, she thought.

[Any second now, a portly accountant will stop by, mop his shiny forehead and apologize.]

["It appears we've made a clerical error. That sickness was intended for 'Abuella Sunscorch' in an entirely different province. We will return your mother posthaste!"]

[Tomorrow Mom will show up hearty and hale, and we'll carry on living as normal, and she'll tease me about how dramatic I've been, and we'll praise the gods that it's over.]

Suspended in disbelief, Sunkanmi lingered in the meadow beside the pyre, eyes pinching the horizon for a fat clerk to right his wrongs.

But of course, none came and she didn't know what she was expecting.