Arachnids
Someone said “Spiders,”
looking at his hands:
hairy even for a man’s,
cruel twists of arthritis.
He hid them. They dug
deep into his dark pockets
where they made their home
busily counting his change.
___________
Paul Jones
Review by Chapman Hood Frazier
There is a clarity and imaginative leap that I like here. The first four lines set the scene: Hairy hands=Spiders. But these are hands twisted by arthritis, hands that are an embarrassment, hands hidden deep in pockets that are feelingly counting the change.
These hands like spiders take on lives of their own. The poem reminds me of that wonderful story by Sherwood Anderson titled, Hands, where the focus on hands becomes a source of fascination and fear.
The poem is short, clear and the language tight and precise.