The Things We Touch

 The morning blanket, we pull closer.
A baby's smooth cheek, we gently stroke.
We leave our mark on keyboards.
Our feet feel the heat of sand in summer.

(Where do our touches go, when we're gone?)

We handle this,
we fondle that.
Our hands caress fabrics and lives.
A cutting glance strikes at the heart,

(The things we touch still hold us, when we're gone.)

Remember the first time you felt snow.
When your toes felt cold rainwater in your boots.
The wooden bench in a new playground.
Your lover's soft face in a morning.

(Your touch echoes down the years.)

It's been ten years since you felt the embrace,
of the one you loved most.
Ten years since clasping close the one
who holds your heart.
Ten long years of yearning for enchantment.

(The loving touch, always remembered.)

The things we touch hold our essence.
We leave our mark, here and there.
The hearts we embrace always remember
 the tender way we touched.

(The things we touch still hold us, when we're gone.)
The things you touched still hold me, now you're gone.


©Ellen Pepper 2026