Manūs

    DHS to purchase thousands of

    electrified gloves for ICE agents;

    plans to equip all officers with

    devices by spring 2027.

Today I look at my hands

it is tender to speak of them,

There's a callus on right

middle finger where I've 

positioned drawing pencils

for years; stains of yellow

tempera 'round nail of

right index finger--from

testing paints for students

this afternoon--

Left hand is smaller,

palm carries faint scar

of wound gotten 

at age nine,

before gash was sutured,

I glimpsed pearly bone

within the cut, just below

Mount of Venus.

These hands look like

Mother's, and her hands looked

like her father's, the grandfather

I loved.

Latin word for hand is manus--

Manacle, mancipate, remand

    Agents don dense gloves

    Sewn with conductive pathways,

    Grab ICE detainees,

    Wrist buttons on mitts when pressed

    Make victims writhe, leave no mark.

Today I look at my hands

they are wired for compassion,

contain circuits of empathy

everyone shares.

Latin word for hand is manus--

Manuduct, mainstay, emancipate

I flex my palms 

at height of my heart,

cradle the air.

Laura Stickney 2026

Notes:

Manūs--Latin word for hands

manacle--to shackle

remand--to order back to prison

manuduct--to lead gently by the hand

mainstay--a supporting hand

emancipate--to free

detail of hands of ancient Sumerian

Woman, stone sculpture, 2400 BCE,

The British Museum.