4 fingers – foto by Smith
Hand Jive
Why four fingers
and not three
or two and a tentacle?
nobody talks fingers
it’s all opposable thumbs
without which of course
certain things wouldn’t do
like hammers
axes, pole dancers
no children skipping rope
tieing knots
unzipping zippers
without the gripper
bye beatnik cool snap
thumbing a ride
unbuttoning clothes
and it’s not easy I suppose
for those all thumbs
to compose
Gogol’s “The Nose”
though that’s more finger territory
— Smith, 7-27-2011
The Nose by Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol, a satirical absurd Russian short story from 1835-36
Johnny Otis – Willie and the Hand Jive, 1958
Eric Clapton – Willie and the Hand Jive, 1974
Opposable thumbs – foto by Smith