The Knife Angel


I stand before you, holding out my hands,
imploring those now carrying a blade
through city streets and other bloodied lands,
to give it up, let lasting peace be made.

My sculptor used a hundred thousand knives
upon a frame, constructed out of steel,
to form my shape. I represent the lives
of crime, the deaths, perpetual ordeal.

For every unused weapon handed in,
another had been brandished in a kill,
its metal still revealing all its sin
with spots of scarlet blood, the victim’s spill.

I hold so many messages inside,
along the flanks of flicks, machetes, swords –
the love for family or friends who died,
amidst repentance from the prison wards.

Be present with me, take some time to think
of all the fear and suffering I bear
beneath blue skies, or grey, or murky ink;
I never sleep. My eyes ask, Why? I stare.

Felicity Teague

The Knife Angel  is a sculpture formed of 100,000 knives created by artist Alfie Bradley and the British Ironworks Centre, based in Oswestry, England. Completed in 2018, the sculpture is 27 ft tall. It is created from knives anonymously donated to knife banks during weapons amnesties. It also includes knives seized by the police, some with bodily fluids on their surface. The sculpture was created in order to highlight knife crime in the United Kingdom and educate young people on the harmful effect violent behaviour can have on their communities. The artwork is currently touring Britain. Details can be found here.

The statue in place.
 
If you have any thoughts on this poem, Felicity Teague would be pleased to hear them.