A Hand | A poem by Anna Kamieńska, 1962

Hand of Akhenaten making an offering to Aten – Sandstone from Ashmunein,
Egypt, 18th Dynasty, ca. 1540 – 1300 BCE

This thing is called a hand.
This thing brought closer to the eyes
covers the world.
Bigger than the sun, a horse, a house,
a cloud, a fly.
This thing of fingers.
This thing with a lovely pink surface.
It is me myself.
It’s not merely lovely.
It grabs, holds, pulls, rips off
and its other works are numberless.
It’s not merely lovely.
It directs armies,
works the soil,
murders with an axe,
spreads women’s thighs
and its other works are numberless.
Its five fingers—five crimes.
Its five fingers—one merit.

Anna Kamienska
tr. Grazyna Drabik & David Curzon