<\/p>\n
The Touch of Your Hand<\/p>\n
by<\/p>\n
Radiance Angelina Petro<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It\u2019s all well and good when the whole descends<\/p>\n
to parts, but when it happens the other way<\/p>\n
around, all hell breaks loose.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The scent of my mother\u2019s \u201cHere\u2019s My Heart,\u201d<\/p>\n
Avon Powder drifted from bedroom to hallway,<\/p>\n
from hallway to car, from car into church,<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
and finally settled in the hymnal she handed to me.<\/p>\n
All that just to create a void for the mass<\/p>\n
to fall into and me with it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Prior to heaven, when I parted the waterfall<\/p>\n
in front of my cave, I believed in the holy,<\/p>\n
and my hat had wings, and I sat with black crickets<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
as they sipped the midnight.<\/p>\n
What does any of that even mean?<\/p>\n
It means ghosts respond to affection,<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
and baby sea-turtles scramble to the sea,<\/p>\n
never to feel the shore again, and most poems seek<\/p>\n
to awaken.\u00a0 This one is meant to drowse because,<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
despite previous terrors, sleep<\/p>\n
is still the safest place, and there are ghosts<\/p>\n
who need the touch of your hand.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n