Bitten Bleeding Always healing

Nails And nail beds All uneven

Under nails Skin, blood, spit The ritual, the survival, the instinct

Smaller hands learning to move things Grabbing, pushing, pulling Control, order, undoing

There must be something that needs fixing, correcting, dissecting Some small, quick satisfaction these two hands can bring I must check I must check If I don’t check how can I correct

Hands constrained to ritual Born from a need The soothing Only a mother’s hands can bring Hands just as unavailable, just as habitually