My Hands Are Empty | Teen Ink

My Hands Are Empty MAG

May 25, 2011
By PaigeStreet PLATINUM, Juneau, Alaska
PaigeStreet PLATINUM, Juneau, Alaska
47 articles 0 photos 218 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Stay golden&quot;<br /> - Johnny (The Outsiders, S. E. Hinton)


Your green, green dress made me laugh.
This is as nice as it will ever get
You said, and your knees were bruised
Above red shoes ill-matched and still wet
With puddles of dirty rain.
Would you like to dance? My hands
are empty,
And your dress is green as love and coarse as memory

We are made of layers, layers, layers,
That has always been the way
And in season we shed these layers
Until there is nothing left to lose

And when you went home and peeled off that green, green dress,
Inside there was a girl
Small and fair and young as anything;
Inside her was a woman
Strong and lovely, coursing energy,
And inside her, an old, old soul
An old, old heart,
A tree;
Green as love and coarse as memory,
Slowly
Shedding
Its leaves

Still, I cannot abstract you,
But what will be left of us
When we have lost every layer
And shed every shell?
What will we find together
In the cupped hollow of the hands of
friendship's love?
Who can tell?

Love is
God is
Love
In empty hands

Waltz (2, 3)

Waltz (2, 3)

We danced the most terrible waltz (2, 3)
Oh, but our words danced incredibly free
And so sparse like the dances of stars
That our feet no longer mattered to us;
We were alone and time was ours
(2, 3)
(2, 3)
2,
3,
Fin
Thank you
This is as nice as
It will ever get,
You said.
Funny, I was thinking the same thing


The author's comments:
I love green.

Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 14 comments.


cat27 GOLD said...
on Jul. 28 2018 at 6:17 pm
cat27 GOLD, East Peoria, Illinois
14 articles 2 photos 7 comments

Favorite Quote:
"and the salt in my wounds isn't burning anymore than it used to. It's not that I don't feel the pain. It's just I'm not afraid of hurting anymore. And the blood in these veins isn't pumping any less than it ever has and that's the hope I have, the only thing I know that's keeping me alive." - Paramore (Last Hope)

This is absolutely beautiful. I can not even begin to express how amazing it is.

on Jun. 26 2012 at 3:44 am
PaigeStreet PLATINUM, Juneau, Alaska
47 articles 0 photos 218 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Stay golden&quot;<br /> - Johnny (The Outsiders, S. E. Hinton)

Thank you so much. Your comment is truly encouraging, and it is an honor that you have read my work this deeply. 

on Jun. 14 2012 at 8:31 pm
zoekibbelaar BRONZE, Curacao, Other
2 articles 0 photos 9 comments
I love the image that the layers gave me, like I could see the tree inside the old soul inside the woman inside the girl inside the layered green dress. I also liked how each layer got more and more personal, almost like the woman and the tree were hiding behind the girl and the dress. I also liked how the layer idea was re-mentioned with the counting of the waltz, almost like the tempo of the music was the outermost layer of a bubble that the two characters were trapped in.

on Jan. 24 2012 at 9:12 am
AngelsKiss PLATINUM, Paris, Tennessee
25 articles 0 photos 83 comments

Favorite Quote:
You have the power to live another Childhood, so open up the door leaving back your doubts.

This had really good rhythem to it, and i like how the dance part created a image in my mind that flowed winderfully 5/5 please read some of my work and comment

on Nov. 29 2011 at 11:58 pm
PaigeStreet PLATINUM, Juneau, Alaska
47 articles 0 photos 218 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Stay golden&quot;<br /> - Johnny (The Outsiders, S. E. Hinton)

Thank you! It is a fun idea, isn't it?

on Nov. 29 2011 at 11:41 pm
sophza PLATINUM, Sacramento, California
21 articles 14 photos 47 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Life moves pretty fast. If you don&#039;t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.&quot; ~Ferris Bueller

It flowed really well, and I loved the idea of a tree inside of a person, under all of the layers!

on Nov. 29 2011 at 5:41 pm
LifesIllusion BRONZE, Cicero, Indiana
4 articles 0 photos 127 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Don&#039;t let your fears slow you down. Instead, chase them down and beat them.&quot;

I almost loved the way you set up the poem as much as the words! You have a skill at writing with detail and imagery. Just beautiful. 5/5 stars

on Aug. 21 2011 at 10:21 pm
PhoenixCrossing GOLD, Tinley Park, Illinois
14 articles 0 photos 178 comments
I really enjoyed the format of this poem and the content is beautiful!

on Aug. 13 2011 at 1:03 am
PaigeStreet PLATINUM, Juneau, Alaska
47 articles 0 photos 218 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Stay golden&quot;<br /> - Johnny (The Outsiders, S. E. Hinton)

Thanks! great idea. Actually, thats sort of the idea. It begins with a request to dance, and it takes so long before the music starts, but once the dance begins, it ends so quickly. Halfway through the dance stanza, it loses the 3/4 meter anyway. 

on Aug. 5 2011 at 1:02 am
musicispassion PLATINUM, Perris, California
35 articles 0 photos 733 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot; Life is never easy for those who dream.&quot;<br /> There are so many other quotes i need pages to write them

this is such a fun and free spirited poem i love it i love the way old souls sounds

on Jul. 30 2011 at 2:12 pm
BrightBurningCampeador PLATINUM, Portland, Oregon
42 articles 11 photos 333 comments
I like how you put in the numbers. That's the rythm or something of the waltz, right? It would be cool if you scattered the numbers through the whole poem. Like all this is going through the narrators head as he's dancing.

on Jul. 28 2011 at 11:03 am
DeusExMachina SILVER, Reading, Pennsylvania
7 articles 6 photos 93 comments

Favorite Quote:
The universe was exploding, each particle away from the next, hurtling us into dark and lonely space, eternally tearing us away from each other--child out of the womb, friend away from friend, moving from each other, each through his own pathway toward the goal-box of solitary death

Wow. Seriously. This is like, spectacular. Its sooo good... and it reminds me of my own style. Amazing job :) *adds to favorites*

on Jun. 30 2011 at 12:20 am
Ellyn-Cross BRONZE, Juneau, Alaska
2 articles 7 photos 4 comments

Favorite Quote:
I believe in getting into hot water; it keeps you clean.<br /> <br /> Gilbert Keith G. K. Chesterton<br /> <br /> The valley of the shadow of death holds no darkness for the child of God. There must be light, else there could be no shadow. Jesus is the light. He has overcome death.<br /> <br /> Dwight L Moody<br /> <br /> The silence isn&#039;t so bad, till I look at my hands and feel sad

I love this poem

on Jun. 22 2011 at 5:37 pm
RheaD.Ravenfinger BRONZE, Juneau, Alaska
4 articles 0 photos 94 comments

Favorite Quote:
1 Corinthians 13:4-8

<3 The picture goes so well with this poem. The poem is beautiful. :)