i’ll remember you a distant
coward, back turned save
the way you had to face
me momentarily
(when I was pleading),
your fingers laced
with blade to turn.

you’ll remember me bleeding; a 
frenetic champion of unfurling
without witness,
your rival Phoenix,
more quiet than you think
and less likely to withhold
my secret passion,
years practiced.

got the agrimony and
ague root to prove it.
got the mirror laid.
got a stone of yours.
got a really belly laugh going.

“black magic”