Not the ones with which he wrote
and held lemon water and lifted up a spoon
to fletcherize his food
nor the ones with which he held Felice

at two-hands’ remove

nor the degenerate hand of Leni who tries to seduce K
but the one with severed thumb
pinky sheered off to the root
and a ring finger worthless to

hold a ring — to illustrate

the accidents that might befall
a worker using a rectangular wood-
planing machine as opposed to
a circular plane. Who has a magic

hand that he can place into a machine

without it being torn and tossed aside by a
thousand knives? These the hands —
mannequin worker hands — deftly drawn

that drew me.