In Our Hands
Because storms shook our rafters
broke our floodgates carried parts of us into the wind
Because we were veterans of picking through the rubble
of cobbling pieces together of starting over
Because we had nothing in our hands
but we still had so much to lose
and so much to give
Because our fingers dug into dark earth
scrubbed toilets, scoured plates, scored glass
Because our hands cramp with the work
yet we hold on like we don’t feel pain
What lines mark our hands folds in flesh
ghost traces of wounds
Christine Fojas is a Filipino-Canadian hailing from Las Piñas City and currently living in Metro Vancouver. She has a BA in Comparative Literature from University of the Philippines and works as a library technician at Douglas College. A list of her publications can be found at her website. She is also on Twitter as @chrisfojas.