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Erica J. Kingdom

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Rafaël Barnwell

Rafaël Barnwell

W O R D S • I D E A S : E R I C A J . K I N G D O M

THE DEVIL WEARS A SUIT

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The devil dies the death of a thousand qualifications; The wardrobes are filled with suits which stench with copper. They are green, like the signs. Of wealth and protesperty. And like those, they fail their weight in gold. They are layed on the spires, melted in the essence of gold and prosperity. All whilst the man in the dark grins, As he watches the others below starve and beg for their weight bread and water. And all his friends sit, dine and drink freshly made wine from the golden taps. They request more. More. more. And even more. They drink until they are unable to form sentences, until the effort of thinking causes them pain, splitting their skulls. And they repeat the same. And the next nigh. As soon as dusk greets them, they eat their weight in gold; All whilst the ones below watch as they wither away. Slowly becoming skeletons. And then dust, which is whipped away by the copper tainted wind. As the green leaves fly away, tainted by the dust of the poor.

SHEDS AND DEATH

The sky is fading into the darkness, Where the beast sleeps for the night. The dark overshadows the shed, blood red in colour. Dad said it scares the men away - but I think it brings them closer. Closer still, are plants, lovingly planted and kept alive. At least they will never die - right? The sun is fading away, escaping its responsibilities for another day. At least these can escape human responsibility - never having to pay, To be kept alive, to dine, and drink shitty, admittedly gone-off wine. To survive, with a beating heart, a sign of the start, Of new life, around the corner, I hope we are not kept in the cycle, Of Samsara, Going around like a hamster wheel. Tell me, dad: What is it like to die?

Always having a book to hand, Erica J. Kingdom is convinced that she is from a fantasy realm. She started writing when studying for her GCSEs, in addition to being an English teacher in training. Her works can be found in journals such as The Paper Crane and Honeyfire Lit. When she embarks on a larger project, she loves writing about challenging topics such as revenge and the importance of responsibility within society. When she isn't writing, they love to take walks through the local forests and casually plays the piano. Her favourite books are those which present adventure, explore the complexities of the human condition and let her delve into the millions of worlds that stories have to offer.

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