My hands are scarred
(from catching)
May they not forget their cunning
Dreaming of talent sleeping late
Frequent naps rubbed awake
Failing me now in my time of need
Dropping keys, getting so cold
May they find the path as I climb once again
Standing in the gap (someone who is aware must do the work)
I trust my hands
They have captured the frightened and dangerous
They are hard but tender
Willing to love
Begging to hold
even when loving seems impossible
They carry and toss brick and cement
Ride herd loosely on screaming separators of lignin and cellulose
Knife sharp saws and grinders
Cradle babies, cooking meals
Boast in comfort given, knots unkinked, soreness soothed, oils spread
Index guidance given
Outstretched to the lost
Extended to the needy
Gripping desparately to hearth
Love
Spoken
But
rarely
believed
(there is so much fear in the world)
Author notes
47. "See these empty hands? Know that it was all for you." -- "The Lake" by Aqualung.
A contest entry
- Hands II by CarolDesjarlais.
525 points, ended May 9, 2007, 9 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest - Prompt Contest. (A-2) by OhNoChastity.
600 points, ended May 18, 2008, 14 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest - Hands by malmadre.
1800 points, ended February 20, 2009, 19 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
1 - 8 of 8
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I like the scattered phrases, as random as thought. Two lines that made the greatest impression, "I trust my hands" and then the last "there is so much fear in the world" People afraid to touch and be touched, to love and share, clinging to hearth and what is familiar. "Love spoken but rarely believed" Some very interesting and true concepts within your writing.
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I really liked this poem. I think it was full of emotion and love, i loved your words, They are hard but tender Willing to love Begging to hold, those are beautiful words. I gotta say though, on my screen this was hard to follow, because the font colour and back ground really are similar. That said, all in all a really good poem. sj
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I wanted a flesh tone to strengthen the hand metaphor and loved the old parchment/arcane writing of the background. Thanks for persevering and reading. Hope all is well with you!
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Hmm. I DO like this poem. However, I don't feel like it followed the prompt correctly. The concept of hands is very much there, and what they do for a person and what they do in general. I see how important hands are, and I like the descriptions of it. However, the emptiness seems to be lacking in this poem. In fact, I'd say that it more has to do with hands being full and beneficial than hands being empty. Also, although love is mentioned in the poem, it doesn't seem to be -about- love, which is what the prompt is about. I feel like you did a good job of stressing the subject of hands but leaving out the rest.
I love the layout of the poem. I think it adds to each and every line and it makes it intriguing on the lines. My only qualm with it is that I did feel like it would be a bit hard to tackle. It wasn't very organised. The spacing only seemed to be there to emphasize certain words rather than there being specific reasons for the drastic layout. It works, but it made it a bit hard to read.
I LOVE the last lines "Love spoken but rarely believed (There is so much fear in the world)". This was amazing insight and definitely inspires thought. It could almost be a quote later for someone to write a poem about. It's a truth I see so much in people too, fear keeps love from happening. It can be awfully sad.
Thank you for entering my contest and I hope to see more by you!
-Jen
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Great poem - although the color of text is a bit hard to read with the background? Best of luck to you in the contest!
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I wanted a flesh color for the hand metaphor. Hope it doesn't hurt the eyes too bad...
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OMG, simply a powerful poem...interesting lay-out, wonderful phrases.
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WHAT A POEM
the wonder of hands:I really like the way you wrote this and the way you showed hands to be be so needed. They give, take so little, always in need of love...they work so hard but yet so tender thank you so much for sharing
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