She had five hands, this bible-dark babe next door,
and though some called her freak,
she was not that. No,
she was an ordinary marvel, much as we are,
us goddesses of the neighborhood--
doing what we will, when left to our own.
Two of her hands, such slender-fingered hands,
such that we all felt a little breathless when she would
smooth her windblown hair back,
were used to do the devil's work--
depending, of course, on which devil's
kids were in school til three or husband gone
til god knows when, maybe forever--
a devil's work is never done, so they say.
Two of her hands were used to pray,
and when she prayed, the saints themselves sighed
and crossed themselves, forgetting to answer back.
Saint Sebastian no longer felt the sting of the arrows,
and Saint Cecilia lost track of her breathing right in the middle
of her hymn to God.
Prayer can be, should be,
a two-way street, and she lit up the lines
at her very first whispered word.
One hand left,
an idle hand perhaps, you'll say.
This hand traced its lineage back to her Romanian high wire ancestors,
knife-throwers, artisans of every stripe.
She told us once, laughing, that past midnight,
this hand became possessed of magic and did the most astonishing things,
all of its own accord.
I don't know about that,
but what I do know is, she knew how to crook it--
just so--
angled toward true north,
and when she did, on those fine afternoons,
I no longer had a choice, and just like her devils and saints,
I came,
calling her name as if the window weren't wide open
and the seasons, at her bidding, changing gloriously on a dime.
Last edited by smart_cookie on Sun Mar 03, 2013 5:04 pm; edited 1 time in total
Sun Mar 03, 2013 12:57 pm
CindyT
Joined: 09 Nov 2012
Posts: 159
Location: Florida
Cookie, we (woman) are so much and on top of that so much more again and always; disguised to the world in the overcoat of normal, the shawl of mundane.
I enjoyed discovering every single finger on every one of her hands...thanks for sharing her with us!
CindyT
Sun Mar 03, 2013 2:21 pm
brachingritualz
Joined: 31 Mar 2007
Posts: 248
I am such a fan of story-telling and of you. In front of an open window huh? Cookie, you saucy minx.... _________________ shemovesme.wordpress.com
Tue Mar 05, 2013 6:05 am
MysteryGirl Moderators
Joined: 02 Jun 2007
Posts: 3419
Location: I come from a land downunder
....sings happily to herself.... Cooks is back, Cooks is back... and with such a delicious turn of phrase I am beside myself. Love, love, love all the different angles of this especially the thought of someone so deliriously attractive that the saints themselves falter......
"and Saint Cecilia lost track of her breathing right in the middle
of her hymn to God.
Prayer can be, should be,
a two-way street, and she lit up the lines
at her very first whispered word."
HugZ, MG _________________ Be yourself.............everybody else is taken!
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