To Fingerstyle

To fingerstyle
is to put your prints
on the string.
To fingerstyle
is to lay your warm
against the cold.
To fingerstyle
is to say
a picklength is too large a distance
to put between
my instrument and me.
To fingerstyle
is to say
I’m not as loud but I’m
just as full.
To fingerstyle
is to answer the question
“who are you” by saying
“this is me
and what’s behind it is
me too, and together
we’re more me than
we are apart.”
To fingerstyle
is to let callus
do the talking.
To fingerstyle
is to say
the pick’s fine and dandy
if you want to be heard above
but the fingers will get a listener
to lean in.

I made a choice to play
fingerstyle
and it says

not too close
unless you’re inclined
to be that close
for a while

as the fingertip
covers first
and the nail strikes after
and together
they make one sound:

damn,
who knew that was in there?