please don’t touch me.

i’ve lost all feeling in my body.

i cannot tell if you are scratching at my flesh,

or caressing the skin i once had.

i consider both to be the same.

fingertips burn like cigarettes,

lips sting like venom,

bodies slice like blades.

please don’t touch me,

for i’ve lost all sense of comfort.

a warm bed has become a prison

and a held hand has become a shackle.

i no longer know what it’s like to be freed.


all this has become a truth-

being that i remember soft skin and a gentle touch,

but not in the form of love.