Shake Hands with Impermanence

I appreciate hands,
those with natural gifts and learned skills,
admire the ones that push aside the ordinary and plain.

Some make flour rise with free spirits,
direct ingredients from the farmer’s market
to act in a culinary play.

Others merge planks of wood to build custom furniture and floors,
with beauty and function,
or cut right-angled shelves to shelter food, books, and ideas.

Skilled potters mold clay, form and glaze ceramics
with the fulcrum of eyes in their fingers,
make objects that will hold things and balance the weight of rooms.

Jewelry makers place select metals and gems into circles of light.
Fabric craft hands create unique coverings to give comfort
for people, walls, and naked floors.

Balancing nuances of colors,
artists draw and paint from ethereal dreams.
Some carve living features into the hearts of wood and stone.

Musicians use keys, opening sounds from sensory stories,
swirling in space with tapping steps
of barefoot notes, dancing in the sky.

These creative ones, listen to fleeing moments,
hear silent voices,
gently shake hands with impermanence.

David Lipsitz started writing poetry 50 years ago. His poems have appeared in The Big Windows Review, Washington Square Review, From The Depths, Chaffin Journal, Cape Rock, Main Street Rag, and other poetry publications.