Fingertips

We stretched our fingers

Testing their limits

Feeling the stretch

Of skin and muscle,

Tempting fate to throw

Her weight

And decide true strength

Fingertips brushed one another

Then found a cliff edge

And mind wandered over

To find what lay beneath

Away from eye’s view-

But clutched fingers held tight

Joint limbs creating basket

To catch the fallen

And lift the struggling-

With simple ease,

A flick of a wrist

A careful drawing by pointer,

A thoughtful moment

Progressed on page

After rough draft

On cave wall-

We presented ourselves

To the world

With simple verses

And tangled lines

That we trained our nimble digits

To pick apart,

Tearing flesh from bone

Found at bottom of crevice

Where we hurled ourselves

In an attempt to grow

Without thinking

Without creating safety net

Of gathered thoughts

And carefully scribed recipes

For our next attempt

At a civilization

Not meant to flounder

Beneath its own weight

But fly with the lightness

Of an eagle.

Katrina Thornley is a nature poet and novelist that resides in Rhode Island. She has two poetry collections currently published, a novel, as well as a short story anthology. Her poetry collections "Arcadians: Lullaby in Nature" and "Arcadians: Wooden Mystics" were inspired by a local park and life in her small rural town. You can find them on Amazon now!

Also, be sure to give her a follow on Instagram (@seekatwrite).