ode to #elbows

consider life without this bendy joint in all its pointiness and supposed mirth. a heaping forkful of still-warm homemade blueberry pie à la mode gently journeys from hand to mouth to the erupting delight of your taste buds. impossible. heart filled with the comforting warmth of a hot cup of tea held loosely against the chest as you sit back into the familiar grooves of your favourite comfy chair. a faint wish. at your desk, the weight of your dreams floating in your head propped up by your angled arm as you lean over, studiously sketching sacred hopes for life’s next venture. this, too, would fall flat.

most of all, though, imagine a straight-armed hug. the only possibility availed to us without this critical joint. no sense of surrounding. no squeeze of solidarity. no rest in the refuge of being engulfed by another’s affection.

oh, illustrious elbow! may we use the gift of you for goodness.

To view this poem in its intended published form, read it here.

Written by Scott Moore
Illustrated by Landon Wideman

Inspired February 2025