When Hands Sleep, What Do They Dream?

His hands dream the sudden strike of fish,
while hers dream textures and stitches;

his hands dream missing letters, a jumbled keyboard,
while her hands dream bond paper with keen edges;

his hands dream a wooden spoon, how it slowly
stirs his favorite sauce to its moment of perfection;

while hers dream the familiar marriage of fork
and knife as she moves the morsel to her mouth;

his hands dream how the fingers cup the softness
of her breast, her nipple a tiny caged bird;

her hands dream the movement of his buttocks
as he moves, her fingers sliding on his hips.

Sometimes his hands and her hands do not dream,
but lie restless and tense as battle-worn soldiers

lost in wrenching memories of hand thwarting hand.
At other times hands sleep in a fingerless void.


Glen Sorestad
from Blood & Bone, Ice & Stone(Thistledown Press, 2005)