Narrated by Mary Turzillo (Read a sample of Mary Turzillo’s Elgin-winner, Lovers & Killers)
Your bathtubs always need scrubbing,
the dark rings, a reminder of your day.
“We have no choice,
the pits below are wet and hot,
we need the wages.”
This is the way of you fallen gods,
this is your lot, whether poets like you
or rock stars, like the rest.
But you complain, refused to work.
And since you won’t cooperate,
you are removed.
You lie on the floor like a worm
pinkish and squirming,
your clothes in a heap at my feet.
I carry you to the font where the tall man
in the bright red frock gesticulates,
muttering words unholy beneath his breath before
dunking you into the bloodied bowl.
A god’s belief is power.
A god’s belief is change.
A god’s belief is a flame
It is a wicked thing to take away,
that belief, even that of a fallen god, but here
compassion has no meaning.
So come, it’s too late for sniveling.
We just had to clarify your situation, didn’t we?
I’ve loosened your chains.
You may now lick my hooves.
AUTHOR BIO: Marge Simon’s works appear in publications such as Strange Horizons, Niteblade, DailySF Magazine, Pedestal Magazine, Dreams & Nightmares. She edits a column for the HWA Newsletter and serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees. She has won the Strange Horizons Readers Choice Award, the Bram Stoker Award™ twice, (2008, 2012), the Rhysling Award and the Dwarf Stars Award. Collections: Like Birds in the Rain, Unearthly Delights, The Mad Hattery, Vampires, Zombies & Wanton Souls, and Dangerous Dreams. Member HWA, SFWA, SFPA. www.margesimon.com