Touch

The hardest thing about being alone
is not the silence at the end of a day
or the stillness of the morning
It is the absence of touch.

It must be hard to imagine for you
with lovers
husbands and wives
girlfriends and boyfriends
babies and kids.

Pretend you have a highly infectious disease
fatal to all who touch you
and wait.
And wait.
And wait.

You will become hungry.
Thirsty.
Your body will start to react
in ways we have no language for.
You will cheat when no one is looking
and buy massages from strangers.

Just to feel alive.

Without touch, we shrivel and die.
It somehow connects us with something unseen.
I don't know what that is.
But it makes me feel good.
Loved.
Wanted.
Connected.
Accepted.
OK.

To touch or be touched.
That is the question.
To touch is an act of giving.
To be touched is an act of receiving.
It is the latter that is endangered
when one is single and alone.