StylusLit

March 2018

Back to Issue 3

Palm

By Kim Waters

I hold your hand 

like a leaf 

in my palm, 

 

tracing 

the ancient 

fretwork 

 

of arteries and veins, 

tracing the lines 

back 

 

to when your life 

was simple 

and smooth. 

 

Now, 

with one clenched fist 

you’d turn to dust.