‘Touch’ -Hugh Lewin (1939-)
When I get out
I’m going to ask someone Touch imagery
to touch me
very gently please Violent imagery
and slowly,
touch me
I want Dream of future
to learn again
how life feels.
I’ve not been touched
for seven years
for seven years
I’ve been untouched
out of touch
and I’ve learnt
to know now
the meaning of
untouchable.
Untouched—not quite
I can count the things
that have touched me
One: fists
At the beginning
fierce mad fists
beating beating
till I remember
screaming
Don’t touch me
please don’t touch me
Two: paws
The first four years of paws
every day
patting paws, searching
—arms up, shoes off
legs apart—
prodding paws, systematic
heavy, indifferent
probing away
all privacy.
I don’t want fists and paws
I want
to want to be touched
again
and to touch
I want to feel alive
again
I want to say
when I get out
Here I am
please touch me.
, Title
1- To make physical contact. 2- To be emotionally moved with feelings of affection
(connection with others). Contrast throughout poem: tender, good touch vs harsh,
abusive touch. He is caught in contradiction of contact and connection.
When I get out
There is a definite certainty of hope that he will find freedom. Subordinate clause:
condition of release followed by the action he will take.
I’m going to ask someone
Action: he will request from good humans (friends, family). ‘I’ shows his agency, power
and independence.
to touch me
He is seeking comfort, contact, connection.
very gently please
He is traumatised (PTSD) and craves a soft, loving, genuine touch from someone tender.
and slowly,
Opposite of quick violence. He is still healing and it will therefore take time for him to trust
touch again. Comma is a pause to emphasise the time he will need to take to heal.
Enjambment: ongoing process of healing.
touch me
I want
Learning again to have choices/desires. Active control over himself (power/agency).
to learn again
He has been emotionally deadened in prison and now has to reintegrate into life.
how life feels.
Pun: 1- To have physical touch again. 2- To have the experience of life again.
Stanza
He dreams of a future where touch will be a good thing again. Stanza frames the trauma
of his prison experience with hope (future change).
I’ve not been touched
for seven years
His prison life for the past 7 years: dehumanised and deprived of human connection.
for seven years
Repetition and enjambment emphasise the seemingly never-ending prison time.
I’ve been untouched
Isolation: he has had no good physical contact and emotional connection to others.
When I get out
I’m going to ask someone Touch imagery
to touch me
very gently please Violent imagery
and slowly,
touch me
I want Dream of future
to learn again
how life feels.
I’ve not been touched
for seven years
for seven years
I’ve been untouched
out of touch
and I’ve learnt
to know now
the meaning of
untouchable.
Untouched—not quite
I can count the things
that have touched me
One: fists
At the beginning
fierce mad fists
beating beating
till I remember
screaming
Don’t touch me
please don’t touch me
Two: paws
The first four years of paws
every day
patting paws, searching
—arms up, shoes off
legs apart—
prodding paws, systematic
heavy, indifferent
probing away
all privacy.
I don’t want fists and paws
I want
to want to be touched
again
and to touch
I want to feel alive
again
I want to say
when I get out
Here I am
please touch me.
, Title
1- To make physical contact. 2- To be emotionally moved with feelings of affection
(connection with others). Contrast throughout poem: tender, good touch vs harsh,
abusive touch. He is caught in contradiction of contact and connection.
When I get out
There is a definite certainty of hope that he will find freedom. Subordinate clause:
condition of release followed by the action he will take.
I’m going to ask someone
Action: he will request from good humans (friends, family). ‘I’ shows his agency, power
and independence.
to touch me
He is seeking comfort, contact, connection.
very gently please
He is traumatised (PTSD) and craves a soft, loving, genuine touch from someone tender.
and slowly,
Opposite of quick violence. He is still healing and it will therefore take time for him to trust
touch again. Comma is a pause to emphasise the time he will need to take to heal.
Enjambment: ongoing process of healing.
touch me
I want
Learning again to have choices/desires. Active control over himself (power/agency).
to learn again
He has been emotionally deadened in prison and now has to reintegrate into life.
how life feels.
Pun: 1- To have physical touch again. 2- To have the experience of life again.
Stanza
He dreams of a future where touch will be a good thing again. Stanza frames the trauma
of his prison experience with hope (future change).
I’ve not been touched
for seven years
His prison life for the past 7 years: dehumanised and deprived of human connection.
for seven years
Repetition and enjambment emphasise the seemingly never-ending prison time.
I’ve been untouched
Isolation: he has had no good physical contact and emotional connection to others.
