The human touch. The way we interact with each other is pretty remarkable. Now I don’t mean just talking with a person. Communication is needed, but there is something else needed to really truly understand a person. And that, is to listen. By listening to another person’s story, where they come from, who they are, and what they have been through, you can really get to know the true soul of a person. This has shown to be true through many forms of media, such as Humans of New York.

I have always believed in this as well. In fact, I have recently engaged with someone who’s story is a perfect example of the human touch. It was an afternoon in Weehawken and I just got off the ferry after spending the day in Manhattan. When I was on the way to my car, I noticed a young woman sitting next to a tree in a nearby park. She was a pretty woman with short black brownish hair, wore a blue shirt, and dark blue eyes. She had a hat on the ground next to her with a sign next to her saying that she needed money for food. I have seen people like her many times in my life, who which I showed charity to, and she was no different. I dropped a dollar in the hat next to her, she said thank you, I said that it was no problem, and I started to walk to my car.

However, I then stopped. It was of another force was preventing me to go further. I then thought to myself that this person must be very lonely and needed someone to talk to. I went over to her and ask if I could sit down, in which she said yes. From this conversation, I was able to know more about her. She was from eastern Pennsylvania and that she was waiting for a few friends who told her that they will meet with her. However, that was a few days ago and she hasn’t heard from them. This made me very concerned. She also showed me the drawings she has done of the Manhattan skyline. I have to say, she had such a talent. She also told me about her anxieties that she had and that she was afraid of going into the city due to it being so big. I assured her that once you get around it, it’s not so bad. She felt more relieved from this.

After talking for a bit, I told her I had to leave. She understood and we said our goodbyes. I always wondered if I could have done more to help her. To this day, I wonder if she is okay and if her friends ever arrived. Although short, this connection really showed me how the human touch can work. Those you might come together as strangers, you can leave with more lessons learned than ever before.

Human Touch

The human touch. They way we interact with each other is pretty remarkable. Now I don’t just talking with a person. Communication is needed, but there is something else needed to really truly understand a person. And that, is to listen. By listening to another person’s story, where they come from, who they are, and what they have been through, you can really get to know the true soul of a person. This has shown to be true through many forms of media, such as Humans of New York.

I have always believed in this as well. In fact, I have recently engaged with someone who’s story is a perfect example of the human touch. It was an afternoon in Weehawken and I just got off the ferry after spending the day in Manhattan. When I was on the way to my car, I noticed a young woman sitting next to a tree in a nearby park. She was a pretty woman with short black brownish hair, wore a blue shirt, and dark blue eyes. She had a hat on the ground next to her with a sign next to her saying that she needed money for food. I have seen people like her many times in my life, who which I showed charity to, and she was no different. I dropped a dollar in the hat next to her, she said thank you, I said that it was no problem, and I started to walk to my car.

However, when I then stopped. I thought to myself that this person must be very lonely and needed someone to talk to. I went over to her and ask if I could sit down, in which she said yes. From this conversation, I was able to know more about her. She was from eastern Pennsylvania and that she was waiting for a few friends who told her that they will meet with her. However, that was a few days ago and she hasn’t heard from them. This made me very concerned. She also showed me the drawings she has done of the Manhattan skyline. I have to say, she had such a talent. She also told me about her anxieties that she had and that she was afraid of going into the city due to it being so big. I assured her that once you get around it, it’s not so bad. She felt more relieved from this.

After talking for a bit, I told her I had to leave. She understood and we said our goodbyes. I always wondered if I could have done more to help her. To this day, I wonder if she is okay and if her friends ever arrived. Although short, this connection really showed me how the human touch can work. Those you might come together as strangers, you can leave with more lessons learned than ever before.

You amaze me just the way you are

You make me laugh with your love

Your lips are as sweet as red wine

Your charisma enlightens my soul

I love how you enchant me with your presence

How glorious it has been since you came into my life

My insecurity is something but the past

Your intelligence inspires me so

Your creativity influences me to open my talents to the world

Whenever I felt unsure, you were there to tell me to listen to my heart

Whenever I felt lonely, you were there to grant me company

I love you from every corner of my soul

I love everything you are skin deep

I will be there whenever you feel hurt

When you want anyday to be glorious I will be there to enchant you

No matter what you are, you are beautiful in every single way

I don’t care what you say, I love you just the way you are.

Walking down the Salina road I see myself back in the days of old

Drinking the old bourbon from the night in Almenia

Seeing the roads that woken up on Joad and everyone else

I see the bar that good old Hank told me before

And all of its degenerate glory of life’s great fuck ups

And I see the cries of the hungry from John’s prophecy

Listening to the great California air while finding our way through the Sanoma Camelot

Then I see the image of her on the road

The signs from the days of Coney Island Nights and sweet Napa dreams

She’ll be back I know she will

As I draw closer to the bar I now feel the words of Hank and John

Damn, their words are so rich with the rundown spirit.

As I go in the bartender stands there with her eyes glaring at me.

She then says “hey hun, you all right, you look like you’ve been through tough shit.”

I look at her with a smirk and she smiles back with a quiet laugh

For she knew that I had the great and noble honor of sitting with souls of Steinbeck and Bukowski

Damn, this shit never gets old

Sitting by the Souls of Steinbeck and Bukowski was originally published in the Cafe on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Yeah, I see your face

You look at me in disgrace

I would like to tell you by the way

That I’m not gonna fade away

I’m a soldier carrying my comrades in the war zone

I’m the heroic traveler, finding the great unknown

Yeah, I know what you’re thinking

You think I’m crazy

But let me tell you something

I won’t be the last to die

I’ll be there for the girl who’s covered all over black and blue

I’ll be the man who knows what really means to be true

Fore me, the race is all for nothing

If you think you can defeat me

You have another thing coming

There you go again

Laughing at your pointless games

But to me, your sick humor is still the same

Injustice can’t hold me back

I’ve got nothing to lack

I’ll be there

I’ll be here

I’ll be everywhere

I’m the star

I’m the moon

I’m the spirit

I’m the light

I’m the boxer who will win the fight

I’m the lover

I’m the forgiver

You ask, I’ll deliver

I’ll fight for the ones I love till the end

I’ll be by their side again and again

I’ve been through the trials of heaven and hell

Which part is worse?

That’s for you to tell

Even though I’m human

I’m strong enough to survive one more time

I can see that I’ve finally caught your attention

But let me just tell you one more time

I won’t be the first to die.

I Won’t Be The First To Die was originally published in the Cafe on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Walking down the Salina road I see myself back in the days of old

Drinking the old bourbon from the night in Almenia

Seeing the roads that woken up om Joad and everyone else

I see the bar that good old Hank told me before

And all of its degenerate glory of life’s great fuck ups

And I see the cries of the hungry from John’s prophecy

Listening to the great California air while finding our way through the Sanoma Camelot

Then I see the image of her on the road

The signs from the days of Coney Island Nights and sweet Napa dreams

She’ll be back I know she will

As I draw closer to the bar I now feel the words of Hank and John

Damn, their words are so rich with the rundown spirt.

As I go in the bartender stands there with her eyes glaring at me.

She then says “hey hun, you all right, you look like you’ve been through tough shit.”

I look at her with a smirk and she smiles back with a quiet laugh

For she knew that I had the great and noble honor of sitting with souls of Steinbeck and Bukowski

Damn, this shit never gets old

The stars are calling me to reach them high

I prepared myself to reach them.

Took all my might and set the world aside

With each step higher I got closer

But as I climb, I suddlenly felt the pain.

The agony of reaching such reward.

I started to have deprecating thoughts

Such hate for me, like a knife stabbing me in the corner of my heart

I trembled and fell, like a fortified city being torn away by barbarian hordes

I had thoughts, of leaving the stars

To just let it go and never climb again

But then, I heard a voice from up top

“You can do it”, they said

I told them that I’m trying and they smiled.

“Don’t be perfect, that’s all”

That’s all I needed to keep going

I climbed up to the top

High and higher I climbed, the more I felt victorious

I can feel my fingers hurting, but I kept going

There it was the top. By God, I was there

When I got there, I saw those at my side from hell and back

What jovial celebration we had for my triumph

What I can say is, when you reach the starts, mistakes may be made

But if you keep going, maintain the strength of a warrior

You shall be the victor

The Stars are Calling was originally published in the Cafe on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

You make me laugh with your love

Your lips are as sweet as red wine

Your charisma enlightens my soul

I love how you enchant me with your presence

How glorious it has been since you came into my life

My insecurity is something but the past

Your intelligence inspires me so

Your creativity influences me to open my talents to the world

Whenever I felt unsure, you were there to tell me to listen to my heart

Whenever I felt lonely, you were there to grant me company

I love you from every corner of my soul

I love everything you are skin deep

I will be there whenever you feel hurt

When you want anyday to be glorious I will be there to enchant you

No matter what you are, you are beautiful in every single way

I don’t care what you say, I love you just the way you are.

The Way You Are was originally published in the Cafe on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Pulp

It’s what you make of it

The damsel in distress and the anarchist hero

The film noir dreams and the unpleasant ending

It’s what you make of it

The absentee landlord and the crying child

The wondrous woman and the war that was fought

Bastard child and junky lovers

Fat cat fascists and Roman dreams

Pulp

It’s what you make of it

Soliloquies of magic

Plastic promises and nostalgic embrace

Long hair and gleaming eyes

Sick men and dying lives

The glorious memories of old and the times of change

Ken Kesey’s kool aid trips and Ginsberg’s generation

Pulp

It’s what you make of it

The sad tales of O’Neill’s Ice man and Salinger’s angst

Burroughs’s yage and Bukowski’s dives

Valkaries and warriors that made blood warm

Pulp

It’s what you make of it

Silent eyes and great smiles

Damned whores and dead beat widowers

The night of tides and horrors that ensues

Pulp

It’s what you make of it

Pulp was originally published in the Cafe on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Never relaxing

In constant mental pain

Anxiety embracing me

Like thorns breaking fragile skin

It implies my mind

Slicing it with a rusty saw

One to decrease the anxiety

The medicine that can cure such a plague

Is the delicate time of solitude

Space is paradise

My splendid isolation

Hearing my sole thoughts

What lovely ecstasy

Time for physical and intellectual enjoyment

Time to reflect and assess

Such a time needed

Yet solemn allowed

Always have to be public

Always here and there

Want to be alone

But chains keep be down

If mentioned of splendid isolation

You are crowned antisocial

Deviant and boring

But such isolation is needed

It rejuvenates the soul

Peace for the mind

Solitude that grants energy

Needed for one to become social again

To reminisce of past lives

To plan for a successful future

There is nothing wrong with the socialization of others

Such interactions I desire

But wondrous solitude

In that, there is no sin

Give my my time

My health, my mind, my soul

Give me my splendid isolation

Such beauty gives me life

I pray, grant me it, please