Whom the Machete Spares

It is the last thing to be seen in a murderer’s hand;
look for it inside glass instead:

Behold, the clean sheen, the metal mettle, the classy curve,
the sleek outline, the searing shine,
the fine finish, the steel relish, the inimical trickle
of thirst, and thrust dwindling to a dint
where all the thrall huddles to a hint
of incredible fragility! Behold, the prim poise, the slim form,
the savage death-cold so peacefully warm,
bits of air, pipal aflare, a people without keys,
the grace, the face of peace, the inevitable ease
unsettling those nerves in the knees
while behind the electric pricks of the tryst,
behind the pandemonium of the painted and the pissed,
morose meccas melt like mist…

Consider, reader, if you still are able-minded, why
the butchered pity the blinded!

Susmit Panda was born in 1996. He began composing poetry at the age of fifteen. Since then he’s been trotting out poems recklessly and his first book, titled 50 Arteries, was published in 2016.