Touch

They say that pain is what we feel the best,

receptors in our fingertips are most

attuned to hurt, but I know that one dose

your hand dispenses on my naked breast

can cause an ache of sorts, for in the quest

of searching for our love, we’ve come so close

our shells are shed, like low tide at the coast.

Thus stripped, we face each other. All the rest

is lost beneath your touch, for now I know

that knowing you, in all ways of the word,

has been my saving grace. And now, no foe

no friend or family, none whose voice I’ve heard

could make me break my vows to you. And so

I welcome all the pain that's been incurred.

Maggie Creshkoff