Touch

trapped inside a body
moving like a marionette
hands unable to stay still
legs hanging down
words left unformed,
wheeled from place to place,
no release,
smiling she grasps
a hand and smiles

trapped in a bed
after a stroke
the words left,
faces became blanks,
now she remembers
her daughter, friends
and words came back,
not clearly as they
spilled out, "I'm getting
better," she said,
her hands held fast
to another hand