Praise Hands

I adorn my fingers in stones

I adorn my fingernails in beauty

I lavish them with oils

I anoint them with my love

These are hands that held the hearts of so many

Gently and with tender and precise care

Despite the fact these same hands

Were slapped

or swatted away

or viewed as amputations

when offering my own heart in return

I press them together in gratitude

Gassho position

Because I honor them

They never became weapons

They just gently sat the hearts back down

And wiped my tears

And joined my arms

In holding myself

And gathering my things

As I walked the rest of me away

I trained these hands to heal others,

I mastered it even.

But I am being selfish with

Them now

I hold them now

But I still hope for a day

I meet someone safe enough,

Conscientious enough,

To hold them

And cherish what they are

And what they carry

But until that day

And even thereafter

I honor them.

They are a

mudra of my own loveself.