Hands

HANDS

A Tribute to Women Everywhere.

 The Magical First Years

Smooth as duckling's down

Waxy from purple peeled-paper crayons

Stuck fingers mucky thick with Elmer's.

Moving Into Adulthood

Wet licked fingers zipping homework pages

Knuckles white as pearls gripping steering wheel

Spending first pay check earned

Caressing a secret love's face.

 The Becoming Years

White veil placed by trembling fingers

Watery-wrinkles soaping dinner dishes

Walking life's path, hand in hand.

Germination

Tenderly caressing swollen belly

Cradling a downy head

Feeling a raging fever.

 The Best Years By Far

Throwing crazy balls, sewing frilly frocks

Signing streams of school reports

Wiping tear-stained faces flushed in pain.

The Ebbing Years

Waving goodbye, first-born leaves

Waving hello, longed for company

Sheltering shoulders in great sorrow.

 What It Is All About

Compassionate wrinkles born of service

Aging pigment, mementos of

One's life passing on to another.

These are a Mother's Hands

 Praying for All Mothers Wherever They May Be

Sharon

MOTHERS

Althea Marie Johnson Sorensen

and

Sharon Dail Sorensen

Great-Grandma Mimi~~Grammy Sharon

A sun-drenched "gathering" room scattered with MOTHERS,

retired-separate-removed-discarded

from decades of child bearing; kissing tender hurts;

scheduling omnipresent activities;

car pooling; silently weeping through private trials;

protecting from slights and harm; earning wages; sheltering/protecting physically

mentally and spiritually;

laughing 'til sick-crying 'till dehydrated;

reaching for the Golden Ring to give their child.

Wrinkles like so many "worry beads" grace the prolapsed faces;

cloudy eyes covering, hiding so many memories...

..memories that drift in and out of consciousness,

years having worn the edges away.

Each woman is a single soul,

a single story,

a single history,

a rich and complex tapestry of living life.

SOLO

SOLO in birth.

SOLO in birthing.

SOLO in death.

The sun-drenched gathering room, a tapestry,

is hemmed in pending fear, death, complacency;

welcomed by some, fought by others.

Underneath the worn and frayed covering

is a resilient BATTING,

a rich thickness composed by LIVING.

We spent our last afternoon at Alta Ridge

visiting Grandma Mimi and her fellow "house-mates."

A group of beautiful young women, choosing to live their lives

with care and compassion visit with the residents,

SING to them,

recite POETRY and SCRIPTURE

GRACED the afternoon with a GIFT of LOVE.

Young women from Job's Daughters

Evelyn Swain Furner Velma Howard Furner my BEAUTIFUL MOTHERS.