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POEM: Touch by Hugh Lewin
When I get out
I’m going to ask someone
to touch me
very gently please
and slowly,
touch me
I want
to learn again
how life feels.
I’ve been so long
in the cage of my soul
that I’ve forgotten
how the sun feels
and how the rain.
feels
and the kindness of men.
After the dark
I want
to feel again
the fire
and the light.
Oh please,
touch me.
CONTEXT
About the Poet:
● Hugh Lewin (1939–2019) was a South African anti-apartheid activist, journalist, and writer.
● He was imprisoned for seven years in the 1960s for his involvement in the anti-apartheid
movement (as part of the African Resistance Movement).
● Touch is a prison poem, capturing the psychological and emotional trauma of isolation.
© Mariska Willers, 2025
, 2
Historical Context:
● Written during the apartheid era, when political prisoners were often subjected to brutal
treatment, solitary confinement, and dehumanisation.
● The poem is deeply personal, but it also reflects a collective experience of those who suffered
under apartheid.
THEMES
1. Isolation and Imprisonment
● The speaker has been cut off from human contact, both physically and emotionally.
● Phrases like "so long / in the cage of my soul" highlight the intensity of emotional captivity.
2. Yearning for Human Connection
● The poem expresses a deep longing for physical and emotional touch, basic human needs
denied in prison.
● The repetition of “touch me” emphasises desperation and vulnerability.
3. Loss and Reawakening
● The speaker feels he must relearn how to live: "I want / to learn again / how life feels."
● He has lost touch with nature, people, and himself.
4. Hope and Renewal
● Despite the suffering, the speaker expresses a desire for rebirth and healing.
● Images like "the fire and the light" suggest life, warmth, and freedom.
TONE AND MOOD
● Tone: Gentle, pleading, intimate, vulnerable, yet quietly hopeful.
● Mood: Melancholic and moving. The reader is drawn into the speaker’s longing, loneliness, and
emotional fragility.
© Mariska Willers, 2025
POEM: Touch by Hugh Lewin
When I get out
I’m going to ask someone
to touch me
very gently please
and slowly,
touch me
I want
to learn again
how life feels.
I’ve been so long
in the cage of my soul
that I’ve forgotten
how the sun feels
and how the rain.
feels
and the kindness of men.
After the dark
I want
to feel again
the fire
and the light.
Oh please,
touch me.
CONTEXT
About the Poet:
● Hugh Lewin (1939–2019) was a South African anti-apartheid activist, journalist, and writer.
● He was imprisoned for seven years in the 1960s for his involvement in the anti-apartheid
movement (as part of the African Resistance Movement).
● Touch is a prison poem, capturing the psychological and emotional trauma of isolation.
© Mariska Willers, 2025
, 2
Historical Context:
● Written during the apartheid era, when political prisoners were often subjected to brutal
treatment, solitary confinement, and dehumanisation.
● The poem is deeply personal, but it also reflects a collective experience of those who suffered
under apartheid.
THEMES
1. Isolation and Imprisonment
● The speaker has been cut off from human contact, both physically and emotionally.
● Phrases like "so long / in the cage of my soul" highlight the intensity of emotional captivity.
2. Yearning for Human Connection
● The poem expresses a deep longing for physical and emotional touch, basic human needs
denied in prison.
● The repetition of “touch me” emphasises desperation and vulnerability.
3. Loss and Reawakening
● The speaker feels he must relearn how to live: "I want / to learn again / how life feels."
● He has lost touch with nature, people, and himself.
4. Hope and Renewal
● Despite the suffering, the speaker expresses a desire for rebirth and healing.
● Images like "the fire and the light" suggest life, warmth, and freedom.
TONE AND MOOD
● Tone: Gentle, pleading, intimate, vulnerable, yet quietly hopeful.
● Mood: Melancholic and moving. The reader is drawn into the speaker’s longing, loneliness, and
emotional fragility.
© Mariska Willers, 2025
