These Hands

 

Words are only words.

I need to reach out

with my hands

and tell you, show you

what I mean.

After all,

aren’t we engaged

in more than just

communication?

Building reality

occasionally means

you must pick up

a hammer and nails.

The pen

can write a song,

can inspire

the heart of nations,

but it will never

lift a sword

to fight a war

to defend it.

Words and gestures

and the sounds

we make with our mouths

make for poor

shelter from the elements.

If we can live

only by the Word of God,

then the words of men

are nutrient deficient.

Sit here

and write a famine.

Compose

hunger and starvation.

These hands

need to dig the ground,

plant the seed,

and sow the harvest.

These hands

need to draw the bow

to take the bull,

if I am to feed you.

Words make weak meat

and poor grist for the mill.

Not to say

that words cannot

inspire,

or comfort

the afflicted

in their time,

but these hands can offer

an embrace that words cannot

and help

in a time of need.

 

 

DJR – 2022

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