Kingdom of Shards by Madison McSweeney

Mercy goes to those 
who need it least.

Once upon a time 
we built a fortress
upon a deposit of sand
a conception of crystal 
whispering ’bout
the kings we beheaded
when they ceased to serve us,
but nonetheless immortalized
in iron; the queens
we sent to retire
at the top of the tower
and scrubbed from the stones; 
the maiden-martyrs laid to rest 
in dragon jaws. 

The innocent will be 
condemned —
Mother of pearl.

The heat – not from the dragon fires,
but from the sweltering rage
of the masses, a disease
that even the leaches can’t suck out –
turned the sand to glass; 
the malcontents threw stones
the glass shattered
and so we walked
on broken shards, 
the worms below  
eagerly sucked 
the blood from our soles;
incensed,
I snorted a cloud of smoke

The innocent will be condemned
like a shack
built on sand
that’s fossilized from the rafters down
petrified; a rough grey shell, 
mother of pearl inside.

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Madison McSweeney is a Canadian author and poet with an interest in the macabre and fantastic. She has published horror, science fiction, and fantasy stories in outlets such as American Gothic, Cabinet of Curiosities, Rhythm & Bones Lit, and Zombie Punks F*ck Off. She also blogs about music and genre fiction at www.madisonmcsweeney.com and tweets (mostly about heavy metal and horror movies) from @MMcSw13. She lives in Ottawa with her family and her cat.

Wendy Lou Lou Schmidt has been writing short stories, essays and poetry for the last twelve years.  She is also a mixed media artist. Written pieces have been published in Chicago Literati, City Lake Poets, Literary Hatchet, Moon Magazine and Rebelle Society to name a few. Art pieces have been published in Rat’s Ass Review, Three Drops From A Cauldron, The Horror Zine, Young Ravens Review and Still Point Gallery.