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(Note: This is one of only two pages on this website that is not by
Ben Best. This is prose-poetry that does not rhyme or use purple prose,
but achieves its effect purely through format and emotive words/images
that move me deeply)
Touch me --- in secret places no one has reached before,
--- in silent places where words only interfere,
--- in sad places where only whispering makes sense.
Touch me --- in the morning when night still clings,
--- at midday when confusion crowds upon me,
--- at twilight as I begin again to know who I am,
--- in the evening when I see you and I hear you best of all.
Touch me --- like a child who will never have enough love,
--- for I am a girl who wants to be lost in your arms,
a woman who has known enough pain to love,
a mother who is strong enough to give.
Touch me --- in crowds when a single look says everything,
--- in solitude when it's too dark to even look,
--- in absence when I reach for you through time and miles.
Touch me --- when I ask,
--- when I'm afraid to ask.
Touch me --- with your lips,
your hands,
your words,
your presence in the room.
Touch me --- gently for I am fragile,
--- firmly for I am strong,
--- often for I am alone.
After several years of having this poem on my website, a reader informed me that the above poem was written by Suzanne Somers and is published in her book TOUCH ME, Nash Publishing Corporation, 1973 (which is out-of-print, but can be ordered from Amazon, which is what I did).
Everything printed above is part of the original poem, but this version is shorter. The anonymous person from whom I received the poem made some very judicious deletions, in my opinion, and I prefer this version as it stands.
-- Ben Best