Metamorphosis NINE

Day 9

To my hands : Kelly Davis

When I slid into the world,

you came out clenched, like two walnuts,

then gradually uncurled like ferns, 

finding your way into mouths, eyes, porridge. 

Later you wrapped yourselves round stubby pencils

to form my first As, Bs and Cs.

A few years on, I gnawed your nails

in my worried teenage mouth,

and your fingers made discoveries

in the slick coral heart of me.

Soon you moved fast enough

to make boys spill their seed.

You balanced cigarettes, held soggy joints,

trailed in rivers beside lazy boats,

fanned out like angelfish 

as I swam in the South China Sea.

You wielded an editor’s blue pen: 

insert, rewrite, delete, stet.

Later still, you learned to type

on an Amstrad’s qwerty keyboard,

sent faxes, never mastered texts,

graduated to desktops, laptops.

In between, you rubbed off cradle cap,

tested milk – too hot or just right,

wiped babies’ bums, smeared on cream,

combed thistledown hair, snapped poppers,

did minimal washing and ironing,

waved tall sons off to university.

You are still labouring,

pecking away on keyboards – 

more stiffly now.

Your veins form a relief map.

Your papery skin has lines

that gather on your finger joints.

At night, I often wake 

to find you tightly clenched.

Commended in the 2016 annual Fire River Poets competition. http://www.fireriverpoets.org.uk/competitions/2016-results/to-my-hands/

Henry Moore

Metamorphosis : Janette Fisher

You told me you loved me

you lied……

for just as a sculptor

works on his latest creation

you transformed me

from the person

you vowed to honour and cherish.

Using belittlement and humiliation

as mallet and chisel

you painstakingly chipped away

my confidence and self-esteem

until all that stood,

was the outline of an effigy

permeated with

self-doubt and self-loathing

then

utilising disparagement as your emery

you diligently sanded down

any remaining shards of my self-respect

to complete your masterpiece

the subjugated me

for years,

servitude and acquiescence

was all I knew 

until the day love found me

encased in your contemptuous cocoon

real love,

love that gave the strength

and courage I needed

to affect a metamorphosis;

breaking free from my penal pupa 

I spread my new wings

and flew away.