Christina Thatcher attended the 'Writing for Self Discovery' workshop in May 2012. The writing was inspired by an exercise from the 'Writing the Body' segment of the workshop.
Writing the Body
My fingers are
the same size from the bottom to the top. Some people have slender ones or ones
that widen at the knuckle and taper off towards the tip. But mine are uniform
which, I think, makes them look worn and washed out. My hands are older than
me; I carry my stress and anxieties in them. Years of farm work has weathered
them. The nails are brittle and uneven, bitten to the quick before every
assignment, interview, and emotional day. The cuticles are overgrown or
half-heartedly pushed back. But none of this bothers me now.
As a teen I had
an artist boyfriend who always drew hands so I wore gloves whenever we were
together – even in the summer. But later I accepted them for what they were –
the story of my life – and began to decorate them. I covered my ring fingers
when I traveled to England for the first time. I bought the second ring in
Ireland when the sun was setting over Galway Bay. I chose the third to mark a
mountain climb and the end of an era, slipping it on at Penn State creamery
where my best friends and I celebrated our win over Mount Nittany and our last
year in college. Now whenever I forget the rings I feel like my hands have left
part of my story behind.
The insides of
my palm match my brother’s. We both have ‘M’s etched on them which – a fortune
teller once told us – means we will lead a long and difficult life. The mark I
keep between my thumb and index is the same as the birthmark under his eye. Our
Dad used to say it was a ‘T’ so we would always know we were Thatchers.
The veins on the
top of my hand form a blue heart. In the winter when it’s cold and my skin’s
gone translucent I often look to this for comfort.
As a child and
teen my hands were covered in calluses from lifting hay bales, pushing
wheelbarrows, mucking stalls, carrying water buckets, and playing the guitar.
My hands are softer now, apart from the deep drove where I keep my pen.
Christina Thatcher is a freelance writer, teacher, and researcher in Wales. She is currently working on her first collection of short stories and
attempting to order her latest poems into a respectable chapbook.
Her website is http://collectingwords.wordpress.com
If you have attended a workshop or have been inspired by a Write Co Twitter prompt and would like to submit a piece to be featured, please get in touch, thewriteco@hotmail.co.uk
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