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Touch-type by Thomas McColl

I lightly tap
your naked back
with my fingertips.
You say that touch-type
is the best type
of massage to give.
Not that it does a thing until 
I gently type the magic word
which begins in r and ends in x.
In any event, 
it’s only upon that final tap, 
where x marks the spot,  
and there it is, 
invisibly 
but, all the same, 
indelibly 
imprinted on your back… 
relax 
…that your massaged-with-a-message muscles will.

---

Thomas McColl has recently had poems published in magazines such as London Grip, Fat Damsel, The High Window, Prole, Dodging the Rain and Ink, Sweat and Tears. His first full collection of poetry, Being With Me Will Help You Learn, was published in 2016 by Listen Softly London Press and, this year, is one of four poets showcased in Co-Incidental 4, a pamphlet published by The Black Light Engine Room Press.

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