| Sustaining Grip A vice grip clamps around my heart Squeezing against my pulse To catch my breath at every other beat. Numb, I whisper breath. This long bony hand that holds me Stripped of worldly rings once worn Is younger than I remember Yet familiar in strength and shape. Fingers muddied building a house of sod. Palms splintered building a house of wood. Hands pin-pricked sewing A hundred quilts A thousand lives. Creased from battle with the mid-west sun Determined to craft life from dust. Cradling death. Caressing newborns. Lovingly feeding any hungry mouth While straining to feed her own. Now out of reach the hands I touched are cold Yet I feel their strength as my own hand clutches nothing. Steel grip pressing my heart To fuel the passion their toil began.© 1997 wendi loomis "Reflection in Fragments" |