The Handshake

I once shook a hand

Belonging to an ordinary man

With an ordinary face

Adorned in a plain button shirt

And brown leather loafers

Nothing stood out about him

Except for his curious ears

Reshaped by wrestling’s shear force

When his hand wrapped around mine

In a single moment I beheld

the entirety of everything

He had touched

It’s strange to think

A universe of memories could reside

In his right palm

He told me he had been a farrier

And it made sense

Only a man who can gentle a yearling

While shaping hot iron to hooves

Could know touch in this way

My mind cleaved in two

Automated cheerful banter

Hid my trembling soul

To crave the intimate caress of a stranger

Whose hands feel like home

Is an odd sensation

Crying out for his fingers

To caress my face

Trace my brow

Penetrate my open mouth

With his calloused thumb

Aching for masterful contact

I knew I would never feel

I had spent a whole life without it

And would continue on

A different path

Life gallops at breakneck speed

Time’s wide stance

Has distanced me from that day

Yet, still embedded in my core being

A life’s story

Never to be written

But lived

Through one handshake