A Vile Plot
by Sam M. Phillips

Tear the flesh,
Smear the leash
With rich red,
Crimson dark dread.

This tale I’ve read
Has left me feeling uneasy,
Queasy guts grind,
Brain stuck in bind,
People can be so unkind.

Having lined their pockets,
They gouge eyes from sockets,
Pluck ears from heads,
Struck feet from legs,
Hands from arms,
Teeth made into charms.

Alarms we raise,
Lost in a craze,
Amaze each other
As we move to smother,
Cover face with bag,
Death of a hag.

Lag behind to watch,
Slag a foe to hatch
A vile plot,
This smile spot
Betrays nothing.

Thief stuffing,
Gambler bluffing,
You’re laughing,
But I’m serious,
Deadly delirious,
Mesmerising most,
Hypnotising host,
I entice and boast.

A roast boiling,
Roiling sea
Shifts inside of me,
Drifts with energy,
This elegy
Describes me well,
A humanistic hell.

Ballistic bell,
Shoots to tell
Of invading force,
Caress to coerce,
Coarse grains,
The powerful take pains
To guard against the strains
Served up in strife,
Yet no smooth life.

This wife widowed,
This high priest hallowed,
Sin swallowed
By giant whale,
Confusing end to tale.

***

CLOCKWORK DRAGONS: A Fantasypunk Anthology is available now.

25 stories of magical technology and fantasy beasts.

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