Today my almost-brother got his finger chopped off.

[Wintergreen]

He's All Thumbs Now

Caught in the machinery, it severed at the base.
"The graft won't take", the doctor said,
"but it's only a thumb."

The strong right thumb that caught my hand
in his hand's embrace.
No one will want to shake it now.

Gone are the silly little finger tricks
that taught me the times tables and signs of the streets.
Footsteps harsh,
he keeps his hand in pocket.

Now crippled -
the strong resounding chords -
fingers shift to bear the extra load,
wander across the piano keys.

He straightens, and his hands clench painfully.
"It's only a thumb."

[wickedawesomeful]

I wish I had an extra thumb.

[FoJaR]

:(

[meiloyn]

I like this one. Don't like the rhythm (I like even rhythm in poetry), but I really like the emotions that this gives. When you learned that the boy who lost his thumb liked to play the piano, you really feel bad.

[CMAxX400]

I actually had an extra thumb. Shortly after my birth, it was surgically removed and my thumb has grown crooked ever since. But hey, it's not that bad at all. The thumb is a video game trick thumb and I am not that bad at piano either.

[Wintergreen]

Thanks, that makes me feel a little better. I was really upset because he was really upset. The doctor didn't tell him they were going to remove it; they had reattached it, but it got infected. He thought they were just going to do more surgery on it, then he woke up with no thumb! It probably wouldn't have been such a loss if he had been prepared for it.

P.S.
Extra thumb!? That's so cool! ^.^ I got my thumb caught in the wheel of a shopping cart when I was little, and now it's double jointed. It gives me an unfair advantage in thumb wars.

[All_That_Chaz]

Love what the doctor says, the callousness makes it extremely aggravating from the point of view of the reader. Your imagery was fantastic. Shaking hands is the obvious thing to bring up, and the most evocative because that physical touch can mean so much once it's gone. I like the attitude of this character. It's not often that you see someone recently crippled both openly angry at his injury but still maintain his former hobby, and playing the piano is a great image for this particular situation. In art one usually either finds the crazy 'handicapable' characters that have more pride in themselves than before the injury and continue on with their old hobbies just to show the world they can; or you find the brooding 'my life is over' character whose injury consumes them. Thank you for this new interesting character!