SONGS OF OURSELVES

❦ potentate

(alright, here we go)

oh, we don't talk about it

it's better if we don't

talk about it

you never call me out you just

shout maybe i should

swallow my pride

with or without it

i don't believe it

all the things that you said

when you said 'em

did you mean it

i hate to waste time hate

keeping a secret i can't

erase it all now i can't

just leave it

❧ mk.gee, "DNM"

Underground, a roar rippled.

In the lowest antechamber, the Goldsmith stirred a fragrant pot of pear stew with a slotted wooden spoon. They ladled their creation into an earthenware bowl and neatly tapped the excess onto the rim. Their gold-plated hands darted with blade-like precision - practiced efficiency. Tools.

The Goldsmith carried their steaming bowl out of the kitchen, through the corridor, down the hallway, and finally into the library where Xosa lay, crumpled like an old rose.

The Goldsmith set the pear stew near the other uneaten bowls circling their friend and stood back in observation.

"Death," a pause. "You must eat."

Xosa didn't move. He hadn't lifted a finger since Sunkanmi's departure, statuesque in his betrayal.

"You are more mortal than divine now." The Goldsmith perched on a workbench, leather apron curling over their legs. "And your body will begin to consume itself before long."

Stirring, Xosa lifted his head. His black gaze cut a jagged edge.

Still, the Goldsmith persisted. "You will need your strength for when you see her again-"

"What," Xosa spat. "Do you know about consumption?"

"Nothing but what I see before me. You're wasting away for what? Get up."

The handcuff on Xosa's wrist ached like a baby tooth. "How?"

"Tell me something. Anything. One secret and then you're free."

Xosa groaned and clutched his forehead. Could it be so easy?

A vision of Sunkanmi taunted Xosa from the tree he was lashed to, shimmering and defective.

"I love you," it said. "And I love you enough to leave you."

On and on, echoing in his ears.

love you...

LEAVE YOU...

love you...

LEAVE YOU...

Xosa, who had run out of tears half an hour earlier, stared blearily at the false image.

"And I love you, too," he exhaled. As if it could've made her stay. "With all my heart."

A moment suspended in interminable tension. In the distance, the Goldsmith's machines whirred and rattled. Sunkanmi's figment smirked before disappearing.