Headline Poetry & Press

I have been in the hands of nurses –

lost my dignity – had it handed back

like a clean box of tissues. I have felt

the warmth that glows through

those blue plastic glove. I know their kindness –

and yet, in pain and fear,

our mammal selves seek skin –

hold my hand tightly –

we’re all that new-born baby

seeking comfort

on our mother’s belly.

I haven’t hugged my husband

in six weeks, she told me.

That’s how we show our love now,

at a time when hugging’s

what we crave. I’m lonely.

Dying, we deserve that press of skin,

that last handhold, before

the loneliness. And we deserve

to take that comfort from the dying.

---

stunning image by artist and poet Stuart M Buck, find his online store (and humorous inspiration via his Twitter feed.

Australian-born Katrin Talbot’s collection The Blind Lifeguard, was recently released from Finishing Line Press. She has four other chapbooks, including The Little Red Poem and noun’d, verb,  both from dancing girl press, Freeze-Dried Love from  Finishing Line Press, and St. Cecilia’s Daze, published by Parallel Press. Her poetry has appeared in many literary journals and anthologies and she has recently been nominated for two Pushcart Prizes in Poetry.