Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Nicholas SamarasOctober 26, 2017

My hands are an ancient trade, a meditative
creativity to connect with nature. I want the fragrant
echo of smoke, the incense spiral, the grey filament
to thread Heaven and Earth. How God is relative

to our arts. How the shapes of our hands craft
a world in which I milk the tree-sap and mix in
half-part cassia, sandalwood gum, herb and resin,
a pliable labdanum, ingredients young and soft

to make a fragrant braiding—one part
gold copal, one part dark copal, one part myrrh,
wood, spice, and flower crush. My hands tear,
chip and power the ingredients to a heart

of elements. I freeze the resin and then grind
the mortar, let the mixture age to synergise
a cohesive aroma. Then, I reduce what I find.
I cut the resin into strings, cords to realise

what binds us to this world. I hold an art to purify
indoor spaces, an atmosphere of intimacy,
mystery, and play—a reverence for delicacy
and the day’s interconnections that may clarify.

My hands are an ancient trade

More: Poetry
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
Christine T.C.
7 years 7 months ago

I feel like that when kneading dough, sort of connected to all the women who fed their families through the ages. Our hands are an ancient trade, indeed.

The latest from america

Pope Leo XIV, then Bishop Robert Prevost, celebrates a Mass in Motupe, Peru, on Aug. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Julio Reano)
By following the tradition of Augustine, the new pope can promote stability that is not rooted in hierarchical dominance or exclusion, but in communal support, service and humility.
Kathleen BonnetteMay 30, 2025
Brazilian Cardinal Leonardo Steiner told America that Pope Leo would carry forward Pope Francis' legacy of synodality in the church.
Gerard O’ConnellMay 29, 2025
Like my discernment to enter religious life, it was a gut reaction I acted on and did not look back.
Rose RucobaMay 29, 2025
Pope Francis shares a laugh with Margaret Karram, president of the Focolare movement, at the end of a meeting with participants in an interreligious conference sponsored by the movement at the Vatican June 3, 2024. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Margaret Karram, president of the Rome-based Focolare movement, visited the United States to discuss current issues in peacemaking.
Connor HartiganMay 29, 2025