by Billy Thrasher

Hugs are like laughter, letting go and living in the moment, absorbing the energy of life.  Research proves that hugging heals sickness, disease, depression, and stress. We hugged many times at the car door when I took you to your mothers’ house, and when I came to get you. I wondered what made our hugs so special – the key element. I thought it was my imagination or maybe an expectation of something more that was not supposed to be there. The ingredients for our hugs: arms pull together, toes touch by accident then feet slide side by side, weight leans on one another, an ear buries into hair, a curled mouth, pressed cheeks, closed eyes, and then a pause … or something. Then you reminded me. Today, outside the car in my ex’s driveway, my mind absorbed the cosmos; I now know the formula for planetary stability, and why lungs contract. Our toes touched by accident, then slid, you leaned into me with all your weight, your face on my stomach so I dipped my head and buried my ear in your hair. Your arms wrapped around me, and finally there it was, the missing ingredient: the squeeze.

Billy Thrasher is a poet and graduate of the MFA program at Lindenwood University. He writes at home in his office, at the coffee shop, at the park, and in his car during lunch breaks. The simple, brief moments in life catch his attention and spark his creativity. He has poems published in Moon Magazine and Lagom A Journal.