Get Back to Work
A Poem by Rich Heller
Whenever you feel discouraged—
or desperate even—look at your hands
closely, turning them over
and back. Note the lines,
the calluses, the scars,
the knuckles, nicks, and veins,
the ridges and moons in the nails,
the fingerprints. Remember
the pleasure they have given.
Apologize for the pain.
Remember the works they have made
with pen and brush, hammer
and saw, chisel and gouge,
needles, with nothing
but a well-sharpened
knife. Remember the food
they have gathered and prepared,
the music played on drums,
flutes, keys, buttons, and strings.
Have they healed others? Killed?
What seeds have they planted?
Who have they fed, cleaned,
comforted? When they are no
longer steady whose hands
will care for you?
What all have you touched?
And whom? Look at those
miraculous and terrible hands
closely. Open and close them.
Let discouragement and despair
go and then get back to work.
Rich Heller writes poetry and songs, gardens with native plants, and watercolors in Pittsburgh. Most of his projects revolve around the marginalized of the Appalachian Plateau and more specifically the Allegheny and Monongahela River watersheds.
