At Last

My hands look like his hands now.
All I’ve done is live my life with his
same kind of attention, his same
disregard for highfalutin thinking.
I’ve learned that while our bones
may be different everybody’s blood
just smells like blood.
 
My hands finally look like my father’s.
I believe this gladdens the earth.
 

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9 Comments

  1. nwhannas on July 2, 2013 at 2:37 pm

    Funny, I saw a pic of myself about a year ago, and noticed the same thing–I’ve never looked a bit like my tiny, dark skinned and haired mom…but now I have her hands. Since our last touch was over 14 years ago, this brings much comfort. And gladness.

  2. wynnegraceappears on July 2, 2013 at 3:24 pm

    Gladens the earth. Love this word choice. Beautiful.

  3. mike graves on July 2, 2013 at 4:24 pm

    you mean you’re milking Holsteins now?

  4. Hayley on July 3, 2013 at 1:13 am

    i love this very much.

  5. Diana Trautwein on July 3, 2013 at 4:28 am

    “Everybody’s blood just smells like blood . . . ” indeed. And my hands these days look like my father’s in size and shape and my mother’s in bent joints and age spots. How I hope they look like both of them in ways that count.

  6. lvshope on July 3, 2013 at 1:57 pm

    Love your meditations. Causes me not to take things that make us unique for granted.

  7. Peg Richards on July 4, 2013 at 3:12 pm

    A wonderful tribute to your father this is. Odd that I noticed my hands look like my mother’s well before I saw her face in my reflection in the mirror.

  8. David Blase on July 5, 2013 at 4:25 am

    Your great-grandfather’s hands and your grand-father’s hands and your father’s hands were so much alike……I look down at mine and see theirs….and yours too.
    Dad

  9. Ali on July 7, 2013 at 5:22 am

    Your poetry-prose is re-readable 100 times John.
    I very much enjoy your writing, and the sense of wisdom that flows through it.
    Ali in Switz.

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