The Hug
we never huggedmy family and me
we only touched by accident
then I saw a lady on the bus
hugging her friend
and the friend looked all happy
and so did the lady
and the lady said
it's good
to hug
so I went home
and hugged my family
the big, the small and the furry
it felt strange, it felt weird
and they looked kind of scared
and some of them ran away
but I kept on trying
cos the lady on the bus said
it's good
to hug
I don't think my family
are like normal people
my dad's like a skate board
and my mum doesn't know
what to do with her hands
and my brother told me to get lost
and my nan said 'you'll break my bones'
my grandad toppled over
the cat scratched me
and my little sister cried
it was hard going
my mum said
don’t worry dear
you don’t have to do it
not if you don’t want to
and I said
do you want me to?
and she said
yes she rather thought she did
even though it had felt
quite odd at first
so I carried on
and after a while
everyone started to look
a little less scared
and a little after that they smiled
when they saw my arms
reach out - to them
now sometimes they ask me
do you want a hug?
and I say yes please
cos I know
it’s good
to hug
