My hands clutching a pen in America (6)
I believe the answer is:
corral
'pen in america' is the definition.
'corral' can be an answer for 'pen' (both are a type of enclosure for animals). I am unsure of the 'in america' bit.
'my hands clutching a' is the wordplay.
'my' becomes 'cor' (both are expressions of surprise).
'hands' becomes 'RL' (abbreviations for left and right).
'clutching' indicates putting letters inside.
'rl' going around 'a' is 'ral'.
'cor'+'ral'='CORRAL'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for corral that I've seen before include "Ranch pen" , "Livestock enclosure" , "Shorten (book)" , "Western horse enclosure" , "Pen for livestock (US)" .)