Palms and Paws

He notes that lines cross his hands'

palms like broken hieroglyphs,
dried up canals, or lost roads
in a desert. Creases and carvings.
Clues of use. Scars. Upholstery
stiched after the fact. Sometimes,

he thinks, it's nice to hold a cat's
or dog's paw--those plump pads,
cushioning for leaps, lopes,
and sprints. Something sacred--
isn't there?--about palms and paws,
blooms on the stems of evolution,

epidermal note-paper, tiny
meadows of toil and calm.

hans ostrom 2024

Knuckles

Splendid that the word

in English should begin with K,
hard like bone. Make a fist.

There they are, those knobs
in a slanting line, fingers
bolted to them. Make a list

of all the species they knew
before they went to work
for us. People put rings

on fingers, shape and paint
nails, read palms, shake
hands, caress with soft

finger-pads. They might
even tattoo something
sinister near the knuckles,

which no matter what keep
working shifts in the grip
factory, uncelebrated, scraped.

Rub the knuckles of one
hand with the other hand's
fingers: a gesture of thanks.

hans ostrom 2023