ON HUMAN TOUCH

I want you close

Close enough to feel your warm wreathes of breath loop around my chin

And your knee-hairs; I want our limbs knotted together like we’re stuck in a game of Twister

I want the weight of your ribs, the softness of your stomach

Your skin is like Battenberg marzipan and silk

Your skin is like the belly of a cat

Your skin is like treacle

I want to swim in it

Envelop myself in it

Roll myself up in a skin blanket

I want to press our bodies so close that we liquify

Into a sweet fleshy puddle.

LAUREN HOLLINGSWORTH-SMITH

Also by Lauren,