Tonight's Tormentor

A poem by Achuthan Panikath

Tue Mar 10 2026

What have I done?

'Not I, a tormentor tonight;'
I get to sleep.
I might speak in verse
When the worst arms strike-
And see past clouds of historic crimes.
What villains dare I expose to light tonight?
All preachers vile or sly laws of right?

When death rains down on barren lands
And the wise at mercy of masses wild
The time is nigh for me to say
Each death just a bullshit lie believed.
A lie that's sold and whispered hence
By another who says, as sleep beckons,
'Not I, a tormentor tonight.'