By Jon Stallworthy

In the poem "Two Hands" the speaker is comparing his own hand to his father's hand. Although physically their hands are rather similar: "spade palms, blunt fingers, short in the joint", these people are in fact very different. The poem also describes the relationship between the father and the son and their feelings towards each other.

The father is a skilled and hardworking doctor. He has easily completed 13 difficult surgeries in one day - "13 times ... led a scalpel an intricate dance" - and in this late hour he's still sitting in his study reading medical journals. He is very dedicated to his work since he even scarifies his spare time for it. The father is relaxed and confident while doing an operation because the way he handles a scalpel in seen as a dance. But he's less comfortable with...