Sculptor - February 2010 Poetry Contest Winner
by liannith
I could never do hands.
I can transfigure my chisel
Into a typewriter and speak a personal history
And sculpt the deep rivets of emotions
Round the eyes of dictators and devils,
Divas and demigods,
Fashioning life
From cold bronze and stone.
Or recreate the folds of gowns
That envelope sleeping nymphs,
While patterns, Klimt-like
Wreath the delicate tendrils of their hair.
But if I could emulate the warmth of a handshake,
The articulation of a hand raised and lowered
In debate
Like the ebb and flow of tides;
Or capture the vitriol of an obscene gesture…
I cannot conceive the corrugation of weather-worn knuckles
Bleached and tanned by an unforgiving sun.
Or the elegant ebony hand
Whose pale palms serve a contrast of colour
More pleasing than any canvas.
I only wish I could do hands.
Stumble it!