Someone, please touch me.

The URL for this blog comes from a poem I wrote back in May of this year, so I figured I would share it with you eventually. Recently I've been feeling again many of the emotions I felt when I originally wrote this. Most of this stems from one simple, honest desire: Someone, please touch me.

Touch is a powerful action with many different abilities: It can inflict pain; it can bring comfort; it can answer questions; it can raise questions; it can reassure; it can stir up memories; it can do so much...

But mostly for me, Touch brings comfort and assurance. When Someone touches me, I know that I am alive. When Someone touches me intentionally, I know that I have worth. When Someone touches me softly, gently, carefully, I know that am beautiful.

Touch communicates life, dignity, beauty. Do we remember the last time we received Touch? The last time we gave It? What a Gift we have; why don't we give and receive and enjoy It more often?

Maybe this sounds odd to you. And maybe it is odd. Maybe it only applies to me and a handful of other weird, needy people. Or maybe it applies to many of us, but it sounds odd because we do not admit our needs often enough. You be the judge: Dependence for All

I believe in human touch:
A gentle shoulder squeeze,
A soft peck on the cheek,
A warm, strong embrace,
Even a simple hand shake.

To deny that people need one another,
Is a huge mistake.
Even after we’ve grown,
Even after we’ve left our mother,
The truth still reveals itself in every face:
We each crave to be touched, to be loved, to be known.
Finally, this misconception’s cover is blown:
The independence for which we’re taught to seek,
Is only an elusive mirage, a fake.
But our state of dependence does not make us weak.
Our need for one another is not an immobilizing crutch—
Even if we’re taught to view it as such.

Instead,
Living in dependence frees.
Like birds,
Which ride a breeze
With their wings wide spread,
It frees us to rise above
Unconvincing, easily spoken words,
And enables tangible expressions of love.
For how can someone know they are lovable,
Before being shown they are touchable?
How can someone believe they are beautifully created,
Simply by hearing what someone has stated?
Whether you are naturally bold
Or usually cold,
Your touch has the power,
To show those who cower,
That they have dignity and worth,
That they have been loved since before their birth.
Our society is wrong.
Independence ought not to be our goal,
For it is living in dependence that makes us strong.
Needing one another brings freedom and faith to our soul.

So please,
Let us open up our eyes,
Let us awake,
Let us speak,
Let us denounce these destructive lies.
Let us again believe in human touch.
Let us every opportunity seize.
Let us learn not only how to give, but also how to take.
Sharing one quick, friendly hug may not seem like much.
But, oh, what a difference it might make,
Not only for us, but for humanity’s sake.