XX
HANDS

Yours are the hands that opened the eyes           Luke 4:40.
of the blind and the ears of the deaf;
they raised the daughter of Jairus;           Matthew 9:25; Mark 5:41; Luke 8:54.
and with a loving touch like a gentle
breeze they caressed the unbound hair
of the children; they gave out the bread,
which was your body, as you bade goodbye
to the wedding feast; now like two fountains
they ooze blood. It falls over the eyes
of those who see, and over the ears
of those who hear; over the hair
of the children as well. And blood rains
on the earth from the Christ’s pierced
hands, falling on the hands of those
who, then and now, raise them to beg
God to give back their miserable life.
And with your hands You seize the nails
and manage the oars of your cross!