The Need For Touch

The need to be acknowledged—

Like a child,

The necessity for touch never diminishes.

Craving intimate affection

Like a fly on shit;

We cannot help ourselves.

BE WITH ME!

Their language screams.

Palms face up.

I hold them,

In the roundness of my heart,

With the firmness of my eyes.

LISTEN TO ME!

Their language urges.

I’m here, I whisper

To their sensibility.

I listen with my mouth shut.

The longing to be recognized

Is overwhelming

At times.

Even those who

Are fully trained and

Qualified cannot do justice

To this business of listening.

Attention is left to those of us

Who have unoccupied points

Between our hearts and God.

And what then, when you sit there

Across from me,

And

“I love you” slips out?

Because I know it is not love.

It is gratitude for being witnessed.

It is thank you for being listened to.

It is recognition of Need

And my ability to hold space for our

Experience of intimacy to show up in.            

I sit very still

Listening.