Fingers Crossed

The buds now open, sun dispels the dark

The nights of bat give way to morning lark.

And as we emerge, blinking, into the light,

Brim full with fright, and delight,

Apprehensive, yet pensive of all we have faced

And what may lie ahead, braced

Despite it all, against the odds

We hold hands aloft, with fingers crossed.

 

When threads seem thin which hold

Us upright, out of hospital bed.

Minds spin with hope defeating dread

Our man, our mam, our nan or

All we risk our lives to love,

Those still here or some are now above.

When fearful of the prospect of the lost

We grip our hands, with fingers crossed.

 

And facing changes, leap before you look,

Jump from warm platform above the storm

Into racing wind, held only by a cord

Eyes wide shut, a scream of fear

Which makes our weak pulse race

And puts a grimace or a smile on face.

When all the dice into the air are tossed

We watch and pray, with fingers crossed.

 

And when with doubts our thoughts disturbed

We fake it till we make it,

Keep on keeping on may be enough

Talk the talk and hope to pull it off.

We let it lie and lies we tell lie stacked in piles

Between me and you, we know it isn’t true

Our profits still outweighed by cost,

Our hands behind our backs, with fingers crossed.

 

Palm outwards we want it all to stop

Fingers clench into a fighting fist

Or thumbs up, or teeth sunk into wrist

High five, then middle finger raised

Or V for victory, reversed in hate

Two thumbs up, gripping fingers eight,

The church and people will

Shelter beneath the steeple.

 

Like them, we are not alone,

Our blessings counting, folding bone on bone

The sign of hearts may stop us

Fingers woven like cogs, from falling apart.

Like fragile petals, in cold winter sun,

Or lazy bees whose lives have not begun.

And all together, huddling from the frost,

I hold your hand, with fingers crossed.