"Currency of Touch"

Friendship

 "Currency of Touch"
 
I am a prostitute
 
Not a myth, not a whisper in shadow,
but a body mapping roads others cannot name,
each scar and smile a dialect in the language of survival.
 
They see the price first—
the brass weight of coins, the ledger of hours—
but not the math of hunger that taught me to trade
softness for shelter, breath for bread.
 
My hands,熟练 in the art of letting go,
have also cradled lullabies,
traced the spine of a favorite book,
held a mother’s tears like a secret.
 
Do not mistake the streetlight’s halo
for a lack of heart.
I, too, have counted stars,
though my constellation is measured in fleeting glances
and the silence between transactions.
 
Call me a mirror for the lonely,
a keeper of unspoken confessions,
a woman who knows the cost of every kiss
and still wonders if love is a word I’ll one day afford.
 
I am a prostitute.
But I am also the child who dreamed of flight,
the lover who once knew a name,
the ghost of a future bargained away—
and the soul, still whole,
who refuses to be a verb.
 
Will you look past the transaction?
Will you see the hands not just as giving,
But as reaching?
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Comments +

Comments4

  • sorenbarrett

    A most powerful poem whether metaphor or not. It pierces the taboo and transcends the sin. It presents the grit of life where we all sell ourselves for something. What is the price we set for our soul? Hard hitting in its repulsion it offers tenderness but not too much it is the tenderness of understanding not pity but empathy and the realization that all are human with needs and desires that we bargain for. A fave my friend

    • Friendship

      Thank you, Sorenbarrett, I appreciate your visit and for taking the time to read my poem, and I particularly value your insight that, in essence, many of us could be seen as compromising our ideals for financial stability in our professional lives. My best friend taught me the importance of creative thinking and adaptability. Life is complex and not always as it appears. We should refrain from judgment, recognizing that everyone must earn a living. Have a great day.

      • sorenbarrett

        You are most welcome my friend

      • Tristan Robert Lange

        My friend, I feel the insistence here on being seen whole, not summarized. The reaching hands at the end feel like an invitation and a challenge at once. I’ve wrestled with that same longing to be met beyond function. This lands deep. 🌹🖤🙏🕯️🐦‍⬛

        • Friendship

          Thanks, my friend, for the review and comment. Your words are always appreciated and valued.

          • Tristan Robert Lange

            You are most welcome, dear friend!

          • orchidee

            Good write F.

            • Friendship

              Thank you so much.

            • Katie B.

              Great write!!



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