Poem

Jeannine Hall Gailey

FINGERNAILS

The palmist turns my hands over and over,
reads independence, curiosity in the shape of my fingers,
glances at my nails and says a grave illness hangs
like a shadow over my future.

The doctor notes the blue at the quick,
indicative of a heart straining to pump blood
to my extremities. White spots reveal anemia,
ridges hormone trouble or malnutrition—
she writes out prescriptions with thin, shaking hands

The manicurist exclaims over my fingers,
proclaims the nails delicate, feminine.
That much curve is quite unusual, she remarks,
as she masks the uneven colors with rosy gloss.

Jeannine Hall Gailey

Jeannine Hall Gailey is a Seattle-area writer whose first book of poetry, Becoming the Villainess, was published by Steel Toe Books. Poems from the book have appeared on NPR's "The Writer's Almanac" and "Verse Daily," and will be included in 2007's The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror. Her work has appeared in The Iowa Review, The Columbia Poetry Review, and The Evansville Review.

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