They say that touch

reaches through the layers of the body to the spirit
that because of this     one must be cautious
when touching     to not do damage

She was asked: how do you like to be touched?
soft, medium, deep?

not     how well is your soul protected?


She liked the spaces inbetween
attention unspecific         wandering

the space of spaciousness

sometimes she liked touch to be very specific
        there     right there

but this time
this time     it was the lack of specificity
that seemed gentling
an arm here, a leg there,   tracing the line of muscle
from thigh to
knee       the knotted shoulder
the mournful sound of cello
the flute that circled

and all that space

all that silence

      the pain
that lay inbetween


Copyright 2000 Lauren Crux