Tuesday, January 22, 2013

MY AUNTS' ARMS


seeming broader and stronger
as they age, my own arms
long to join them,
wrap up in a coil,
a royal crown, a mess of roots.

always grace-ful & sun-soaked,
the pride of the family peeking
from a sleeve, extending without apology,
it’s like my mother is here.
I could swear sometimes they trade
and it’s her arm brushing mine.

thumb-print impression from a polio vaccine,
mole spots, sparse hairs,
bicep rising and setting like lungs,
shoulder bones wrapping the origin,
knuckle-long fingers at the end
gripping the steering wheel,
wiping down the counter,
thrown across the towel
at the beach, resting for once.

arms I live for,
arms that can reach me.

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