Knife Returned
John Jessup Kennan 1953 (Pomona)
I'm sorry for being insensitive
I really should be more considerate
I'm sorry for being so hurtful
Bleeding on your carpet like that
I'm sorry that I wasn't able
To bleed more politely for you
Feel free to send me the bill, dear
I'll pay whatever is due
To the gracious hand of politeness
The mask of kindness firm on its face
The Altared Ego's sacrifice
The knife returns to its rightful place
Sweet taste of flesh, sweet smell of smoke
Rise from the flame of desire
They line up to bleed at your alter
The ashes of many afire
Another conqueror laid to rest
The gun returns from its hire
'Cause men will always love a tramp
But nobody loves a liar
To the gracious hand of politeness
The mask of kindness firm on its face
The Altared Ego's sacrifice
The knife returns to its rightful place
I've wiped it clean of fingerprints
I should have believed when you said
That you are completely faithless
A man can't possibly raise from the dead
Yet here I am, fresh from the grave
Alive, with a scar like a grin
As you worship yourself at the altar
Plunging the sacrificial blade in
To the gracious hand of politeness
The mask of kindness firm on its face
The Altared Ego's sacrifice
The knife returns to its rightful place
© John Kennan 4-13-14
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Submitted by rankstranger7 on May 24, 2021
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:12 min read
- 15 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | xxax abxb CDED xffx xfxf CDED xgcg xhfh CDED x |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,226 |
Words | 230 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 1 |
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"Knife Returned" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/100746/knife-returned>.
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