trust in chains

 

all that steel

the mining and smelting

and pouring melting

vats of molten metal

simmering rivers

brimming into casts to cool

then punched

punched punched

clinking links fill

spillways, fitted together

on belts and machine welded,

miniature spark-blue flashes

and then dipped in oil, each

blade honed true and encased

in vacuum packed plastic and

shipped to hardware store

shelves to hang heavy,

waiting to taste

thin limbs of elm

or hot copper

slices of skin.