Sale — Summary

PadmaPrasadCheerful

I forget the area of the face Those lips have lain there long enough anyway Perhaps they'll be sold with the rest; But who buys junk these days? Strong white teeth despite the mildest decay could be polished for parties and picnics on the beach. And hair, still black still live still on the head ---- nothing to complain about there. The skin, I gather was made nearly twenty-five years ago just look at the texture the airy pores hardly used before. And those? Please do not touch. Those haven't been used at all, I do assure you. What's wrong with the nostrils? I'm telling you, nothing's been used, See the eyes, closed, sort of. You'll take it? Of course, you can make it work. Good once sold, however, cannot be taken back.

Show the whole poemHide the poem

Learn Poems app

Try the Learn Poems app

Everything from the website trainer, and more: new exercises, voice recording and sharing, reminders, quick review.

The speaker talks like a salesperson pushing goods, but what's on offer seems to be a human body, and quite possibly a woman's. The pitch is brisk and practical: good teeth, live black hair, fine skin that has "hardly been used." The jarring part is how casually it breaks a person into parts, each one inspected and haggled over like secondhand furniture.

Underneath the sales patter, the poem hints at something darker. The lips "have lain there long enough," the eyes are "closed, sort of," and the buyer is told "you can make it work." Judging by these lines, the poem may be about a woman treated as an object, perhaps in marriage or sexual exchange, though the text never says so outright. The speaker's tone stays smooth and defensive ("Please do not touch," "I do assure you"), which makes it chilling. The final warning, that sold goods can't be returned, lands with cold finality. The mood is uneasy, sardonic, and quietly angry.

Read also

More by PadmaPrasad

All poems
SadPadmaPrasad

A Silent Tear

There's no tremble on your lip: only the silent tear. The tear for the darkness of the past wrapped in a ray of sunlight
ContemplativePadmaPrasad

Clothed in White Wind

One windy afternoon I breathed my last Word to you. We never met after that.
DreamyPadmaPrasad

A Wind Gone Wild

Do I beg to be pinned on some wheel where a babble of sounds can tell me I am This? I am That?