Two Hands

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In “Two Hands,” Jon Stallworthy relates, through the metaphor of his hands , his frigid and frustrated relationship with his father.
This is not based upon an close relationship, it is based on the son comparing himself to his father. His vocation, a writer, falls short when held against his father’s, a surgeon. He shows this by seeming to to be in awe of his father who "Thirteen times between breakfast and supper led a scalpel an intricate dance." He also describes his own art as one that will "save no one, serve no one."
 The poet forges a connection between the narrator and his father in  brief moments,  highlighting the otherwise distant relationship. An example of this The subject, “My father” is introduced at the very opening of the poem. Although the father is never directly described in the poem, aside from his hands, the way the narrator describes him leaves the reader feeling in awe of this god-like man. The




In the poem "Two Hands" by Jon Stallworthy, the speaker is comparing his own hand to his father's hand. Although physically their hands are said to be similiar similar: "spade palms, blunt fingers, short in the joint", they are very different people, and the narrative questions how two hands so aesthetically alike, "would have no more in common".