RANDOM HANDSHAKES - ALI H. RADDAOUI

Sunday, March 7, 2010


I often wonder how some things momentarily populate the screen of your mind then quickly evaporate, leaving little trace or print. Other impressions, however, have a way of colonizing space of the mind, and cannot be washed away despite repeated attempts to unseat them.

INDELIBLE INK

Everyday I spend
I shake many a hand
Oftentimes I hold the hand
That shakes my hand
We share our germs
And a smile
And catch the flu
Many times in a lifetime.
When I go home, I put my hand
Under the tap
And wash
I then shake my hands
And the drips fly around;
My hands are germ-free.
***
Everyday I spend
I have many handshakes
Of a mental type
Some I enjoy
Some I forget
And some impact me
To the point of compunction.
When I go home,
I put my head under the tap
And wash the inside
Then I shake my head
Some drips fly around
And some cling with their hands
To the core of the mind;
No matter how hard I shake
They will not be shaken away.

Ali H. Raddaoui. Laramie, March 7, 2010

2 comments:

Abigail Blue Jay Stone said...

sharing germs, getting the flu, getting to know you.. ha, great... the need and the danger of the Other.

Ali H. Raddaoui said...

Abigail,

Thank you for the pithy comment. The more you comment, the more I look forward to reading your creative writing. You have a way of capturing a complex image in just a few words.