Obscurity And Empathy
By C. D. Wright
The left hand rests on the paper.
The hand has entered the frame just below the elbow.
The other hand is in its service.
The left moves along a current that is not visible
and on a signal likewise inaudible, goes still.
For the hand to respond the ink must be black.
There is no watermark.
One nail is broken well below the quick.
The others filed short.
Or chewed.
The hand is drawn to objects.
In another’s it becomes pliant
and readily absorbs the moisture of the other’s.
It retains the memory of the smell of her infant son’s hair.
Everything having been written, the hand has to work hard
to get up in the spaces.
There is no tremor, but the skin is thin and somewhat
crepey.
The veins stand out.
The hand has begun to gesture toward its ghosthood.
Though at times it becomes almost frisky.
The desk is side-lit.
The hand has options, but has chosen to stay
inside its own pale, thin walls.
It has begun to show signs of its own shoddy construction.
The hand is there to express shouts and whispers,
ordinary love,
the afterimage of everything.
From the outside what light leaks through the blind
is blue, blue-grey.
There is a dog.
There is a fan.
The fan is on the dog.