I.

There can only be one Soul Princess,
how many times did Mother tell me that?
a hundred, a thousand?
more than I can count, for sure
more than the moons have seen
but if there can be only one
why
why
why must that one be me?


II.

Mother strokes my hair with a silver brush
to keep the souls from straying

Mother spoons thistle-milk down my throat
to keep the souls from straying

Mother whistles out of tune and beats my thighs with birch
to keep the souls from straying

Mother mother mother
every day a different face, every day a different voice

Sometimes I wonder
if she's still my mother
anymore


III.

I dreamt
that I dreamt
that I yet dream
and in that dream
a soul rose up and
with its last breath
swallowed me whole
and said to me:

Stupid girl
what good's a dream?
A true Soul Princess has no use for such wasteful things


IV.

"Remember," Mother says as she shoves me through the gate and into the arena, hungry souls crackling in my spine; other girls cry at their gates, other girls scream; other girls grind their souls like blades against their meat; but all of us, from the meanest to the meek, know but this one thing:

There can only be one Soul Princess
come the end

Just the one, just the one

Just the one