Cantos of the Hands
By Mike Garofalo
1. Two Hands & Ten Fingers
Fingers fly feelings into my mind,
brain and thumbs are aligned,
Each finger a Lightening pole
grounded down into my soul.
They searched carefully for a Sign
Of the sharp cutting Edge of the Mind.
They found it, picked it up, realized
their hands and fingers qualified.
Fingers were the Edge of the Mind,
their hands clapped over this Find.
She rubbed against the world,
touching with fingers curled.
Defining herself to herself:
Feeling things, touching one's self.
In whatever we touch, whatever we feel,
we leave traces of ourselves.
Our magical fingers cast spells,
Stamping Others with our Seal.
Feeling the Touches,
Touching to Feel—
lovers linger languors hours.
Skin to Skin, Power into Power,
clutching thrusting Intensities
hour after hour.
Eyes and hands
coordinated cooperatively
Two Hands, Two Eyes,
measuring space
precisely planned
till habits are formed
inside the hands.
Manipulating what I see
active fingers, clever hands
help define a handy me
climbing up evolution's tree.
Two eyes, two hands,
ten fingers touching
Everything he can
not verboten in his land.
The hands achieve what
the eyes and mind can't;
By Doing, Actions, Work,
creative acts, giving back,
opening doors,
shaking hands,
pats on the back,
frisky fingers completing tasks.
We can never hold Eternity
in the palm of our hands:
but easily there existentially persists
80 years in my gnarled left fist.
2. A Gardener's Hands
A callused palm and dirty fingernails
precede a Green Thumb.
Not to move either hand,
nor clap, nor think too much
are all good for zen gardening.
As you move your hands
so you move your mind.
As with most arts, gardening
is an expression of our hands.
Civilization is rooted
in the hands of the gardeners.
You can sometimes get a handle
on life, but it often breaks.
The eyes of a gardener are usually
bigger than her hands.
Gardening helps us to carefully
attend to the close at hand.
Chop the weeds and hose the water...
the sounds of two hands clapping
with delight.
Unclench your fist to give a hand.
Your rich, famous, and handsome;
and your garden doesn't care.
The difference between a
pile of rocks and a rock garden?
The eyes and hands
of the gardener.
Gardens for the eyes;
gardening for the hands.
Put your hands in the earth
and feel the sorrows of the world.
Getting your hands dirty,
applies to more than gardening.
Better to lend a helping hand
than just point a finger.
Our hands help us see our world.
Yea, our movements enable us
to make sense of seeing.
Hold your hoe in your hand,
sharpen it,
and fully sense its meaning.
We learn to speak better
by using our hands:
by writing and gesturing.
I see my hand more often
than my face; and there is
a lesson here to grasp somehow.
To become a better gardener
you need to become a handyman.
One who can use his hands
in new and clever ways.
I am not a Marionette
in the Hands of:
Deus, Zeus, Yahweh, Allah,
God, Shiva, Coyote,
Great Father...
Pulling Onions
Over 1,040 Quips, One-Liners
Sayings by Mike Garofalo
3. Lost His Grip
Two Hands, Two Eyes:
Grasping for straws
Dropped his dreams
Hanging on for nothing
Spilled sour cream
Holding on to pain
Cut up into pieces
Stopped playing games
Lost his name
Gave Up Today!
He held the gun
in his hand
Pulled the trigger!!
Killed Himself
as planned.
Lifeless blood soaked hand!
His dead body bagged in a
coroner's van.
Lost his Grip in the End!
4. Artists See the Hands
Rodin's Thinker,
his head in his hand,
worried about war in his land;
sits naked on a rocky throne
homeless, troubled, all alone.
Markham's weary Peasant
holding a hoe in his hand,
Leaning exhausted, bent tired and low.
Gleaning for a measly potato scrap
Lamenting the poverty
wherein he's trapped.
The Sistine Chapel center
ceiling panel repainted:
a monkey
on the left
stretches a hand out and
touches the fingers
of a pregnant woman
on the right.
[Evolution portrayed right.]
Cueva de las Manos in Argentina, artwork
created circa 7,300 BCE
The Surrealist Chart of Erotic Hand Signaling
By Maria Popova, The Marginalian
"The hand at rest is beautiful in its tranquility, but is infinitely more appealing in the flow of action. ... When the hand is at rest, the face is at rest; but a lively hand is the product of a lively mind.”
- John Napier, Hands
"What we’d hope for on the planet is creativity and sanity, conviviality, the real work of our hands and minds."
- Gary Snyder, How to Unbreak the World
5. My Fingers
My fingers were burned
bitten by dog and spider
sunburnt, cut by knives,
banged in doors
broken in karate
pinched by tools
slapped by a Nun's ruler
and, unfortunately, even more
My fingers learn to write
to type, to use a fork,
to comb my hair
turn pages in a book
to pleasure my down under,
to fire a gun, to pull weeds
and, successfully, even more.
My fingers felt the World
touched the water
felt the fire
grabbed a safety bar
embraced a lover
patted a dog
held a baby, planted seeds,
and, with real feelings, even more.
My fingers pointed the way,
shook hands
counted my cash
gave CPR
soaped my back
gestured artfully
penciled poetry
and, enthusiastically, even more
6. Expressions and Signals
The index and middle V
tout inglorious victories, or
tout peace and pleasantries, or
rabbit ears shadowed by me.
Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down
approval, disprovable displayed
everywhere all the time, all around.
Abhaya Mudra:
Buddha’s right hand
palm out
fingers up
held chest high
gave the sacred mantic sign:
Fearlessness
Protection
Peace
Compassionate-Kind.
Dharma for the Sangha,
Dharma for the Mind.
Their hands met and left
in a handshake grasp;
manly communication.
No kissing cheeks
No hugging backs;
just grip tight and shake
goodbye tonight.
Hands On
Bibliography, Quotations, Research
My middle finger says "up yours."
Fate might give us the finger,
and, as a rule of thumb, we
must accept the bad some.
I thank my middle finger
for sticking up for me.
Fist Up, Fuck You Racist America.
7. Not Grasping What He Means:
The Emperor of Sour Cream
“The unbegun journey
to the
unattainable place."
- David Lehman on John Ashbery
Crossing nothing alone by day
twisting trail my cane can’t touch
marbled rocks on wet blue dust
nearby marvels out of sight.
My words echoed beyond my eyes
my ears smelled pickles on rice
my eyes touched falling ice
my hands saw pianos cry.
On the winter sun on snow
Spring shouted “Let me go!”
Boys caught baseballs on concrete roads
Girls cast spells on pumpkin shells.
My harmonica was out of tune
guitar strings broke one by one
He threw the music across the room
gave his guitar to a one-handed man.
I slipped on a slick wet dock
Stuck a hook in my shin
Dropped my rod on black jetty rocks
Lifted my soul out of salty sins.
Over again, the clock was bored,
time after time the same old grind
one to twelve, twelve to one,
Never really done,
discarding minutes from the board
endless counting,
spinning hands.
Meaninglessness handed to me
big as a nuclear submarine
invisible it seems blessed
to those bereft of perspicuity.
Politics controlled by oligarchs
richer than billions of us
combined toiling on Earth’s Ark
handed rewards when turned into dust.
Congruent with our endless plans
to rectify evils holding man
and women too who by men stand
grasping the evils of cruel hands.
We retreat, withdraw, run
handling dozens of dulling drugs;
Or, use meditation, yoga, gardens, hugs
our worries swept under woven rugs.
The green-touched May, flowers seen,
brilliant noon sunshine dreams
we rest, nap, unhand the scene
temporarily, momentarily,
freed beings.
He held her tight in the night
his fingers trembling in ecstasy
rewarded by passionate sexuality
fading fast and utterly right.
She’s the Empress of Beans.
He’s the Emperor of Sour Cream.
Their daughter’s the Princess of handmade dreams.
Their son’s the Prince of clever memes.
Or, so Imagination portrays Royalty.
My hands felt the salty sea
my fingers ran
across the sand...
she hummed a melody;
held her cup of ginger tea.
I tossed the bait
into the surf
fishing for a silver perch—
my fingers stiff and cold,
reeling-reeling-reeling back
a naked hook.
My hand held an agate jewel
carved slick by the tumbler Sea
polished by a million grains of sand—
rock-smooth in my caressing hand,
stopping to stare on this dreary day.
8. Handshakes of Riddles
What kind of tree can you
carry in your hand? A palm.
What has a face and two
hands but no heart or legs?
A clock.
When it is alive we sing,
when it is dead we clap
our hands. What is It?
A birthday candle.
Who is that with a neck
and no head,
two arms
and no hands? What is it?
A shirt.
You gotta hand it to short people.
Because they can’t reach it.
Why is a traffic cop
the strongest man in the world?
Because he can hold up
a ten ton truck with one hand.
I have no feet, no hands, no wings,
but I climb to the sky. What am I?
Smoke.
What has hands but can't clap?
A clock.
What can you hold in your left hand
but not in your right?
Your right elbow.
A man got hit in his hand
with a can of Coke.
Thank goodness it was a soft drink.
What can you hold in your right hand,
but not in your left hand?
Your left hand.
A balanced diet is chocolate
or cookies in both hands.
At Thanksgiving dinner, which hand
should you butter your roll with?
Neither, you should use a knife.
What is the sound of one hand clapping?
The opposite of two hands clapping.
Silence.
6:30 is the best time on a clock, hands down.
Politician: Someone who shakes your hand
before an election,
and your confidence after it.
How is playing bridge similar to sex?
If you don't have a good partner,
you better have a good hand.
Becoming colder
I move to the corner
where it was always 90 degrees—
laughing loudly
the riddle sneezed.
727 Riddles, Jokes, Brain Teasers
Compiled by Mike Garofalo
9. Gloves for Tiny Hands
The future bounced off
my fingers while too tightly
holding the past.
The past slipped through
my fingers while readily
reaching to the future.
My fingers touched my fingers
praying in the Now.
my zazen was writing
pencil in hand—
sitting still for minutes
no special breathing
just moving my hand
"Of fingers on a book
suddenly snapped shut.
- John Ashbery, A Man of Words
Pointing at the moon, making a point— her lovely fingers.
Grasping at straws to prove his point— a weak grasp of rhetoric.
A well worn glove, the thumb ripped off— handicapped fingers.
Gloves of leather, snug fit— cutting firewood.
Head on hand— eyes down, whiskey breath.
This cat in my lap: purring, eyes closed, ears back— fur on my fingers.
Jackrabbits munching in my garden; shotgun in my hand— yes or no?
Hands filled with good work hold happiness.
Hands On
Bibliography, Quotations, Research
homeless beggar
handed $20—
he held
a cardboard sign:
Matthew 5-7
My whole body
is my hand;
My whole body
is my mind.
Can I grasp this?
worm in my hand
Wiggling—
returned to the earth
where It wants to be
Living...
An Indian woman in Yakima said,
pointing her thin finger—
"Uncle, straight ahead!"
I was under his thumb:
disgraced, put down, numb.
I was under her thumb:
loved, uplifted, fun.
Utterly Different Thumbs.
Bundled Up: Quintains and Tankas
I really appreciate positive feedback,
reviews, kudos, and encouragement
about the value
of
my free webpages.
Send your comments to:
Text Press Email
He died
then revived—
tunnels of light
Stigmatic Hands
Shaman's plan
Powered by my fingers my
cellphone works for me
pressing, sliding, scrolling,
from screen to screen;
the main App is my hand.
= Hands Down =
= their real =
= their true =
= their here =
= their new =
My hands felt the salty sea
my fingers ran
across the sand...
she hummed a melody,
held her cup of ginger tea.
I've always been
just a little
out of hand
out of touch
with reality
His hand jumps off the hot pot— news alert.
Bunches of red grapes shriveled up— handfuls of raisins.
Bandaged fingers, slowly wiping, bloodstained knife.
Brown hands picking black olives— shady grove.
Burned my hand; hot soup pan— Damn!
In her hands, pictures of our wedding; touching memories.
a bold zero
inked on the scroll—
fancies of one hand clapping
A fly on my finger rubs his feet— every hair alive.
Scars on my hand— faint memories; fighting back.
Explosives over his heart— bus pass in hand.
Her broad neck twitches at the touch of my hand— horse sense.
Squeezing her waist, holding his hand— puppy love.
Mother and son, hand in hand— a gentle rain.
Stiff fingers— shattered light bulb underfoot.
You can sometimes get a handle on life; but it often breaks.
Cuttings: Haiku, Senryu, Brief Poems
Hand-still-unmoving: Death
grabbed his failing breath
shook his ego till it expired
handed him oblivion
took from him all desire
A staff in his right hand,
a pearl in his left,
Jizo at the crossroads.
My high school
basketball coach
had no right hand—
an Anzio grenade
blew it away and
killed another man
These hands
shaking
unintentionally—
telling me
unpleasant things.
The fingers at the edge of my mind
Pointing to feelings unrefined
Clustered in hands aligned.
Holding them near and dear.
Crossing my fingers to be sure.
Fifty nine years
to the day, today,
since I first cried—
and raised my fingers
towards the sky.
creamy white pear blossoms
wave in the winds—
he hands her a rose.
Waving, nods, smiles... gestures of trust.
The woman touches his hand,
he is calmed
10. A Collage of Hands
"The mind has exactly the same power
as the hands: not merely to grasp the world,
but to change it."
- Colin Wilson
“The hands that help are better far than lips that pray.”
- Robert G. Ingersoll
"In the absence of any other proof,
the thumb alone would convince me
of God's existence."
- Sir Isaac Newton
"The art of life is to show your hand."
- E. V. Lucas
“Touch comes before sight, before speech.
It is the first language and the last,
and it always tells the truth.”
- Margaret Atwood
"On the other hand, you have different fingers."
- Stephen Wright
"Hands, do what you are bid:
Bring the balloon of the mind
That bellies and drags
in the wind,
Into its narrow shed.
"Now that he's old and foolish
his hands smell of mortality.
Wash it as he may, he can't regain
the scent of the time when lovely
hands longed to touch and caress it."
- James Laughlin, His Hand,
A Commonplace Book of Pentastichs.
"The pressure of the hands causes
the springs of life to flow."
- Tokujiro Namikoshi
Sensors in the skin: Merkel's discs, free
nerve endings, Meissner corpuscles,
Ruffini Endings, Pacinian corpuscules,
etc., detect heat, cold, pain, touch, pressure.
There are 27 bones in a human hand.
There are 14 phalanges; proximal,
medial, and distal in the fingers.
There are 5 metacarpals, in the hand.
There are 8 carpals: scaphoid, lunate,
triquetrum, pisiform, hamate, capitate,
trapezoid, and trapezium in the wrist.
One-fourth of all of your bones are in your hands.
Hands On
Bibliography, Quotations, Research
"The moving finger writes,
and having written moves on.
Nor all thy piety nor all thy wit,
can cancel half a line of it."
- Omar Khayyam
11. Holding Hands
I think about hands pulling weeds, fingers planting seeds, hands holding hoses watering potted plants. Hands that help up a fallen old man, open doors for a limping lass, hug a crying baby in distress. Hands that touched a magic stone, placed hands together to say a prayer, fingers turning pages of a sacred Sutra, hands pressing the earth in Sphinx yoga pose. Hands that open their wallet for those in need.
I look at hands in Tarot cards: holding sticks, staffs, scepters, swords; holding crystals, money, lamps, magic disks and mirrors; holding overflowing cups, empty cups, broken cups and more.
I worry about hands that load a gun, slap a wife, whip a child, strangle ideas, crucify Christ. Hands of paid executioners and racists holding hanging ropes and knives. I worry that their hands will knock on my door.
"Taking the hands of someone you love,
You see they are delicate cages . . .
Tiny birds are singing
In the secluded prairies
And in the deep valleys of the hands."
- Robert Bly, Taking the Hands
Poetry by Mike Garofalo: Online
Hands, Fingers, Touching, Feeling
Studies, Quotes, Bibliography
25 Steps and Beyond: Collected Works
At the Edges of the West
Highway 101 and Hwy 1
Bundled Up: Quintains and Tankas
Cuttings: Haiku, Senryu, Brief Poems
At the Edges of the Fertile West
Highway 99 and Interstate 5
Mike Garofalo lives in Vancouver,
Washington. He worked for 50 years
in city and county
public
libraries,
and in elementary
schools. His degrees
are in philosophy,
library science, and
education. He has been a web publisher
since 1998.
25 Steps and Beyond: Collected Works
I really appreciate positive feedback,
reviews, kudos, and encouragement
about the value
of
my free webpages.
Send your comments to:
Text Press Email
This document was last edited, revised,
reformatted, added to, relinked,
changed, improved, or modified
by Mike Garofalo
on January 10, 2026.