Hands on Hearts

birds

The feminine hands are sprinkled with spots that show their years and red nail polish glints in the bright sun.

Two rings adorn the left ring finger. Both are gold, one with a large diamond at its center and two smaller gems fixed on either side. It looks clean and cared for but the style hints at its age. The next ring has small diamonds arranged in two rows. Behind the bands, on the finger, you can see the indentation left from years, decades, of wearing the jewelry.

There is a Bandaid on the left index finger, evidence of a distracted moment while chopping peppers. Other than that, the hands are pristine and delicate, no evidence of the eight children they held and raised and loved.

There is, however, evidence of her nature in the way they move as she talks on the phone, as she sings. They are birds flying through the air, unrestricted, unbound. They have lived, and they keep on living.