A Photo Taken by a Poet Without a Camera

[A woman] gone to twist wire/into bouquets/distributed to passers by.
Peter Rumney


In the frame
a stuffed human hand
the perfectly preserved
hand i work
of a taxidermist

It is gloveless
and ringless

Pin sharp
finger print
life line
detail

The ungloved hand clutches
tight in its fist a twisted bouquet
of wire

each stem
...................serrated
each bloom
...................barbed
each thorn
...................pointed


The perverse garland
punctures
...................the palm
slices open
...................the thumb
stabs
...................the sides

of fleshy fingers
revealing stuffing

The bare hand
........................bleeds
hyper real
fake blood
........................weeps
from open wounds
wide enough
........................to stick
your fingers in

In the urban dark
Hopper backdrop
colours of rain
and neon

and yellow lines
reflecting
chopped-off-at-the-knees
feet and legs of passers by

Keenly in focus
galvanised petals
lie in puddles
discarded

a first stone’s throw
from ........................us