Of Fruits and Fingernails by Lacy D PhillipsMy fingernails are longer than they have a right to be
owing to weeks of careful cherishing, gentle usage
and cautious movement that was mistaken for elegance
by a cashier watching my fingers dash into my pocketbook
and tease out a debit card with quick, deliberate movements
bringing to mind those of a spider threading after indifferent prey
along a dew-hung web in a nature documentary.
I take inordinate and unwarranted pride in the sharp click
as they contact countertops, door handles, keyboards unharmed.
It is a pride akin to what I feel slicing the juicy meat of a tomato
grown in the back yard on a plant I bought potted and well-matured.
I had really so little to do with the growth and survival of these fruits and fingernails
the shade of red consistent from one to the other.
I am merely an accomplice to nature
which contributes hormones, sunshine, proteins
and soil or blood-bourne minerals in such delicious combinations. 07/10/2006 Posted on 07/10/2006 Copyright © 2025 Lacy D Phillips
Member Comments on this Poem |
Posted by Chris Sorrenti on 07/11/06 at 01:22 AM LOL! I've never read a poem about fingernails, or heard their growth/usage described so deliciously. Excellent poetry! A good candidate for POTD and My Favorites!! |
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