La Mano, Un Mano, poetry notes, John Oliver Simon, La Esquelita

La Mano, Un Mano

John draws a hand on the board, and says la mano. Today, our last day, we will write about our hands. What we write poetry with. The human hand. Petroglyphs in red, Ii think a horse cannot write with its hooves.

John mentions Pancho Aguila, Folsom Prison, how hand jive was a way of talking without words, time passing. One big hand bringing us to our senses, hand armies cusped by the hand.

Do we touch, do we leave by the hand, the sign of the cross, do we leave our exodus?
Hand poems by kids, think about what you do with your hands, John says. Without ears, deaf people can can talk faster than we can with their hands. Blind people read faster with their hands.

John says, when I speak English, I use my hands less. He says that Spanish has more feeling to it. He says: take a good look at your hands, look at the calluses, the lifelines, the writing bumps, the scars, your fingerprints.

An idea, write a poem in the shape of your hand.

John Oliver Simon's poetry workshop at La Esquelita where I was documenting his workshops with photographs.
5/17/1985