Hug
The older I get, the more I like hugging, When I was little
the
people hugging me were much larger. In their grasp I was a
rag
doll. In adolescence, my body was too tense to relax for a
hug.
Later, after the loss of virginity—which was anything but a
loss—the extreme proximity of the other person, the smell
of
hair,
the warmth of the skin, the sound of breathing in the
dark—these were mysterious and delectable. This hug had
two primary components: the anticipation of sex and the
plea-
sure of intimacy, which itself is a combination of trust and
affection. It was this latter combination that came to
character-
ize the hugging I have experienced only in recent years, a
hug-
ging that knows no distinctions of gender or age. When this
kind of hug is mutual, for a moment the world is perfect the
way it is, and the tears we shed for it are perfect too. I
guess it
is an embrace.
~ Ron Padgett
----------------------------------------------------
I thought the poem was lovely, so decided to put it up and share it. Indeed, a hug can be something so reassuring. That touch, with another human, or animal (e.g. a dog--I love hugging my dogs), just makes you feel like you DO exist in this world. Know what I mean?
Posted by DSD at June 23, 2006 10:21 AM