Shadab Z. Hashmi

The Smallest Drone

With a belly full of metal

and no neck

that turns to lock

you in a melting gaze—

lake of Babylonian honey

with its thick hypnotic rippling—

in the crook

of your arm,

it reminds you of your infant

only for its weight,

its familiar size,

as you cradle it.

This missile, its ten pounds

of chilling blindness

rises nightly

to swim in your copper dreams

where your child plays

with mangled beekeepers

and those surviving too long,

who sleep fitfully,

always between

two screams.

From a blog: “The Acturus T-20 drone can carry two small 10 pound laser guided missiles that can turn any target into pasta sauce with the click of a mouse.”