Hands

I dreamt of finger bones
as thick as treesnakes,
of hands that possessed
a fierce, primeval strength,
and I awoke with swollen
knuckles, as though I had
smashed them hard against stone.

But my bed was soft and my back
ached from the excess of comfort.
Each night, the dreams grew worse.
I saw, severed from their body,
the heavy, black hands
of a mountain silverback.
It felt like wires tightening
around my wrists as I slept.

—PAUL VERMEERSCH

(Originally published Christmas, 2007.)

The famous Taddle Creek end note

Author Bio

Paul Vermeersch lives in High Park. He is the author of Between the Walls (M. & S., 2005), The Fat Kid (ECW, 2002), and Burn (ECW, 2000), and the editor of 4 A.M. Books, Insomniac’s poetry imprint. In 2003, he retired as the host of the IV Lounge Reading Series, which he founded in 1998. He appeared on the first Taddle Creek Disc of Laser-light Reflected Sound, and has contributed to the magazine since 1999. (Last updated Christmas, 2007.)