Ian Reid: All thumbs

All thumbs

The cleverest human features
come in pairs
like eyes and ears
like testicles and breasts
and so too with opposable digits
supposed to be the most
definitive trick of our species
a smart device that assists
fine motor skills and brings
precision to our fidgets.

You’ve taken it all for granted
over the years
when time has been neatly jointed
but as each hinge
at the base of those paired phalanges
starts to go numb and then
succumbs to acute arthritis
the sight of a screw-top jar
or a weedy patch of garden
fills you with winces and cringes.

But now you watch your grandkids
clutching screen gadgets
for rapid messages—
and apparently digital
evolution still persists:
to hold pen to paper with fingers
is for them a strenuous endeavour
yet instead their cohort becomes
the first generation ever
to write with both of their thumbs.

Ian Reid