Signs

Sometimes I wake up with my hand in a fist, thumb between index and middle finger, poking out slightly.

Which seems like a signal of some sort, but I'm not sure what.

Reminds of that gesture adapted by the presidential nominees of the 90's, where instead of pointing, they'd indicate with closed fists and point with their thumbs, like they were handing you an invisible check. Or bill maybe.

Believe it was supposed to indicate strength without the accusatory tones of a pointed finger.

Yeah.

But the thumb in my gesture is tucked under and peeking out. Which looks more like a version of the black power salute. Or maybe even a throwback to childhood, a variant on the oral fixation?*

There was this one time...

I was 4, maybe 5, and this little old man on a bus bench just down from the corner drugstore (the one that smelled like cherry cigars) did this trick with his hands.

He put his fists together, left over right, with one thumb sticking out so that it looked like it belonged to the opposite hand. Then he'd pull his fists apart with a popping sound (made by his mouth) and while I gazed in amazement, he'd wriggle an apparently detached thumb.

So maybe that's it?

*Thumb sucking - duh - with all it regressive freudian insinuations.