by Donna Vorreyer

dents left by umbrella tips in a barrel
discarded by hands of hotel guests

blood drops on a gardener’s hands after
trimming the roses without gloves

drunken wedding guests slur apologies
for eating all the frosting roses with their hands

the silent syllables of a skull, its unhinged jaw
open like a mute and welcoming hand

a spider’s intricate web, its silken grids
and fine design destroyed by careless hands

my hand on your hand, connection, conjunction,
parentheses for language only heaven understands

Donna Vorreyer is the author of Unrivered (2025), To Everything There Is (2020), Every Love Story is an Apocalypse Story (2016) and A House of Many Windows (2013), all from Sundress Publications. She hosts the reading series A Hundred Pitchers of Honey and is a co-founder/editor of the new journal Asterales: A Journal of Arts & Letters. Find her on Instagram @djv50 and on BlueSky @djvorreyer.bsky.social.