poem 1.

The Hand That Signed The Paper

The hand that signed the paper felled a city;
Five sovereign fingers taxed the breath,
Doubled the globe of dead and halved a country;
These five kings did a king to death.

The mighty hand leads to a sloping shoulder,
The finger joints are cramped with chalk;
A goose's quill has put an end to murder
That put an end to talk.

The hand that signed the treaty bred a fever,
And famine grew, and locusts came;
Great is the hand that holds dominion over
Man by a scribbled name.

The five kings count the dead but do not soften
The crusted wound nor pat the brow;
A hand rules pity as a hand rules heaven;
Hands have no tears to flow.

-dylan thomas

incidentally, the photo above is a 2003 shot of the hand of then 102-year-old rosa frau, from sardinia. i saw the image in the times store, and immediately thought of the poem, one of my all-time faves. some day i hope to write a poem called 'the hand of god,' and i think that will go even better with frau's hand.