methods of hand-holding at reverendmother

methods of hand-holding

I.
the boy
holds his mother’s hand
only when offered, yet
does so with gladness,
except in the street.
the hand, all dimpled knuckles,
is soft and insistent,
like a secret with five fingers.

II.
the little girl
yanks and jerks
forward, then backward,
pulling fingers until they crack,
not to be naughty, but all the better to
jump a crack, hop, spin into the grass, dance,
pull back, then launch into the air.

III.
the big girl’s
distinctive style:
to do so
only occasionally.

Published by reverendmother 9 months, 3 weeks ago in motherhood, poetry

3 Responses to “methods of hand-holding”

Feed for this Entry Trackback Address

1 Mamala Nov 10th, 2009 at 5:17 pm

love the photo and accompanying poem
2 juniper Nov 11th, 2009 at 11:44 pm

“like a secret with five fingers” — mmm, thank you!
3 Speck Nov 12th, 2009 at 4:16 pm

Great photo and poem! I especially like the one about the little girl. I can definitely picture her as I read about her. I miss all of your little ones.

Search

Asides

» A note to readers who are looking at the new blog: you’ll notice some “greatest hits” from reverendmother there, especially as I ramp up my writing in that space. Sorry for the déjà vu! # 0

» There are no unsacred places; there are only sacred places and desecrated places. -Wendell Berry # 0

» “The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope.” -Barbara Kingsolver # 0