Our wonderful, marvelous hands

Reading from Monday, March 5, 2012 yoga class

We take our hands for granted.  They do so much for us in our daily lives, as the following poem by Naomi Shihab Nye so beautifully expresses:

DAILY

These shriveled seeds we plant,
corn kernel, dried bean,
poke into loosened soil,
cover over with measured fingertips

These T-shirts we fold into
perfect white squares

These tortillas we slice and fry to crisp strips
This rich egg scrambed in a gray clay bowl

This bed whose covers I straighten
smoothing edges till blue quilt fits brown blanket
and nothing hangs out

This envelope I address
so the name balances like a cloud
in the center of the sky

This page I type and retype
This table I dust till the scarred wood shines
This bundle of clothes I wash and hang and wash again
like flags we share, a country so close
no one needs to name it

The days are nouns:  touch them
The hands are churches that worship the world


When we practice yoga our hands support us in downward facing dog, lift us in upward facing dog, honor us as we say Namaste, still us with fingers upward in Savasana, inspire us to keep trying in headstand.  Paying attention to our hands is powerful!!