Please, Touch Me

My whole life long,

I have cringed

at the slightest of touches,

no matter the intent

"She's just shy,

she's not touchy-feely,

she's independent,"

my parents would say

I do not like to be handled,

I do not like to be poked,

I do not like to be felt,

I do not like the contact

But when I am around you,
it's like my nerves reroute

and instead scream at me

with this implacable avidity

And it is the strangest phenomenon