Something - Kimberley Harvey
Photo by Anne-Gaëlle Thiriot, 2021
Hold me. Just that.
Just…
Hold me, please.
Your arms wrap around me in a certain way
And that’s what I need.
Where bodies meet;
Melting into and moulding around each other all at once.
I want to feel that again
And to know, without question, that you want me to be there.
In that moment I know I’m safe;
Suspended in air and time,
I am literally ‘in’ your hands.
By this point you feel pretty familiar,
Yet, I still find myself holding my breath.
I know my eyes will want to close,
The tears will threaten to spill over
Leaving a different kind of trace on my skin,
As I curl into your shoulder, my face buried against your neck.
A desirable human jigsaw
As we negotiate something...
A 'something' with a softness;
A softness of its own.
What does it tell me?
What does it tell you?
Is it the same for us both?
I finally remember to breathe.
Photo by Anne-Gaëlle Thiriot, 2021
What will you do next?
And still,
In this palpable, enticing closeness
I wonder.
The waiting holds me, pulling me in;
A body ready to listen
As we re-find and navigate textures, outlines and volumes of one another.
My eyelashes brush your cheek.
Following me, I support you or the other way around...
To somewhere else;
Running down, up through and then drawing along
Until your hand comes to rest on my shoulder blade one more time.
A tactile gaze and a sinking together;
Stay there a little longer.
Committing each touch to memory.
All in an attempt to remind myself that I was there.
You have left tactile imprints all over me,
A map of encounters for my body to retrace and remember.
Until the next time...
What if it all starts to fade?
What holds me then?
All in the name of…
What? What was it?
Kimberley Harvey is an independent dance artist - a performer, choreographer and facilitator.
As well as performing for others, Kimberley has her own inclusive dance company, Subtle Kraft Co.