Elegy for the Hands
-After Ann Iverson’s “I Feel Their Hands Upon Me”
and now they are the empty
space between each letter.
I’d gotten used to honing
their unhonable traces.
Past the letter, they are past.
I passed through them, too,
in the spaces
where the past passed through fractal,
where they now live in the pixels
that precede all letters, blinking.
When I type, they hesitate
to let each letter out–I hope
each poem calls them here
as they were: perfectly imperfect
and full of i-am-not-to-be-hemmed-in.
17 thoughts on "Elegy for the Hands"
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One great read, Shaun! Reflective tone revealed in rich rhythms, especially when read aloud. Relate to the last two lines: “ as they were: perfectly imperfect / and full of i-am-not-to-be-hemmed-in.”
Thank you so much!
Shew!: perfectly imperfect/and full of i-am-not-to-be-hemmed-in.
Thank you Pam!
Lovely piece, I especially love the landing place of “i-am-not-to-be-hemmed-in.”
Thanks so much Leah!
Loved the slow movement of this poem, word by word, line by line, unraveling its mysteries/truths within.
Thank you, Karen, for your careful reading!
Great poem- last stanza is a killer.
Thank you Linda!
Such rich imagery and deep sentiment here, Shaun. I am enthralled by your second stanza:
“Past the letter, they are past.
I passed through them, too,
in the spaces
where the past passed through fractal,
where they now live in the pixels
that precede all letters, blinking.”
Wow. Breathtaking. Great write.
Thank you, HA! I’m glad it came through for you!
Great word play!
Thank you, Shauna!
Now they live in pixels – the loss of the fine manipulation of the pen. Oh …. Still the words come. Lovely.
Thank you, Alissa!
I love the word play and scattered bits of alliteration!