Creating a gensym in maxima



I want to use sublis to substitute a expression as follows:
sublis(['diff(x,y)=z],exp), but sublis requires symbols on the left of
equal signs.  So, I plan to
substitute gensyms for 'diff in my expression, so as not to interfere
with any of the other
unknown variables in my expression.
What is the best way to create and use gensym as a block variable?
Thanks,
Dan Stanger