‘Touch me with your naked hand or touch me with your glove’ is a line from the final verse of Leonard Cohen’s lyrics for ‘Dance me to the end of love’ (1984). You can listen to the London concert version here).
This resonates now as we rarely touch people outside of our households or bubbles. No more shaking hands or kissing acquaintances and occasionally colleagues. The only touch may be from a gloved healthcare professional, and we’re all doing our best to avoid those situations.
Some creative Brazilian nurses came up with the brilliant idea of filling balloons with hot water to place over the hands of patients, simulating the warmth of holding hands. Read more about it here.
Maybe hand holding, or touch, or care will inspire a poem or an image.
Entries will be accepted until the end of April. Send your contributions to sally.wyatt@maastrichtuniveristy.nl.
