The speaker looks at their own hand and sees something limp and heavy, like a ham hung up to cure. It's an odd, slightly comic image, but it isn't cruel. The hand is "poor," which suggests pity, even tenderness. And it's a hand the speaker carries "to any enemy or love," as if the same awkward offering has to be made to anyone who matters, whether they mean harm or affection.
The second stanza turns toward hope. The speaker invites us to "see" how the hand wants to change, to become "clear as a promise." The meat image gives way to something transparent and honest. Curing, after all, is a slow process of transformation, so the title seems to fit: the hand is changing, even if it isn't there yet.
The mood is humble and vulnerable, with a quiet, dry humor. The speaker feels clumsy and exposed, but not hopeless. There's a sense that reaching out is worth doing even when you feel like dead weight.