Even when I was little
I could recognize the age
in my great-grandmother’s hands
The skin was paper thin
and spotted
with large brown age spots
Her veins were almost as prominent
as her knuckles
Her mind left us years before her body
the body that served as a delicate, breakable case
for her sunshine, caring soul
Though life had worn her thin
and even taken her memories
her soul stayed strong and loving
The death of her body was a loss
and relief
a repair and release of her soul
to the heavens
Not many years later
Nana’s hands thinned with age spots
and prominent veins
her mind stayed in the present
but her body buckled and broke
until her soul, beaten and abused
was finally released to her mother
My daughter was born only a couple of years later
a happy soul, but strong and worldly
My mother’s hands are starting to age now
I wish I could provide her soul the salve of heaven
So she could stay with us so much longer
_________________________________________________________
From Hands to Soul
by CLS Sandoval, PhD
BIO- CLS Sandoval, PhD (she/her) is a pushcart nominated writer and communication professor with accolades in film, academia, and creative writing who speaks, signs, acts, publishes, sings, performs, writes, paints, teaches and rarely relaxes. She’s a flash fiction and poetry editor for Dark Onus Lit. She has presented over 50 times at communication conferences, published 15 academic articles, two academic books, three full-length literary collections, three chapbooks, as well as flash and poetry pieces in several literary journals, recently including Opiate Magazine, The Journal of Magical Wonder, and A Moon of One’s Own. She is raising her daughter and dog with her husband in Alhambra, CA.
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