by Elizabeth McGinn on April 22, 2021
Poetry
by Kate Ward ’23
You can tell a lot by the way people hold hands
A loose grip, white knuckled, palms touching
Life line
Heart line
Head line
The line of fates running along a pair of palms connecting two people
Yet everyone finds their differences and intimacies in something so simple as hand-holding
A subtle, unionizing touch, grounding and steady, unchanging
Some link pinkies while others brush knuckles
I’ve seen a lot of people, looked at how strangers hold one another
But one way has always stuck with me
I remember walking through Union Square with my mom
I pointed at a couple in front of us and asked why they held hands like that
Their hands were woven together like a complex blanket
Wrists linked around each other like twin snakes
She responded with a simple line,
“That’s how people hold hands when they’re in love”
Heart lines connected
Head line separated but on the same track
Life lines intertwined.