1. tiny hands in big hands
2. calloused hands in soft hands
3. cold hands in warm hands
4. hands with the perfect ratio to each other for hand-holding
5. platonic hand-holding
6. running their thumb over the other’s hand
7. dancing with their hands holding onto each other
8. squeezing hand for comfort and encouragement
9. holding hands across the table
10. happily doing everything with just one hand, if it means they don’t have to let go
11. not wanting to lose each other in a big crowd
12. possessive hand-holding
13. linking hands together during sex
14. grabbing hand to show them something
15. loosely holding onto each other’s hands, laying in one’s lap
16. only linking the pinkies together, not ready to let go completely
17. holding hands while skating
18. excitedly grabbing each other’s hands during a concert, jumping up and down together
19. playing with each other’s fingers
20. pressing the other’s hand against their cheek
21. holding hands while one is balancing on a small wall
22. grabbing the other’s hand to pull them back from something
23. holding hands under the table
24. only realizing it when they have to let go
25. standing in front of each other, holding both their hands
26. holding their hands above their head, fingers linked together
27. passionate hand-holding
28. grabbing the other’s hand so they don’t fall
29. holding hands while running through the rain
30. brushing against each other, linking fingers together for a second
31. grabbing their hand to grab their attention
32. not really paying attention, both doing something else, but still holding hands
33. bandaging the other’s hand and not quite letting go
34. holding hands while driving
35. grabbing the other’s hand to pull them back to them
36. unconsciously searching out each other’s hand while sleeping
37. not realizing they’re holding hands till someone points it out
38. swinging hands back and forth, skipping like children
39. holding hands in a museum to pull them to the next exhibition
40. letting go when there is an obstacle in their way and immediately grabbing each other’s hand again when they pass it
41. loosely holding onto each other’s hand
42. dragging the other with them, holding their hand
43. raising the other’s hand to their lips to kiss it softly
44. holding hands while jumping down from somewhere together
45. comparing hand sizes, then linking fingers together

1. friendly hugs
2. hug around the waist
3. hugging while twirling around
4. comforting hugs
5. side hugs
6. hugging and gently holding the other’s head
7. pulling someone into a hug
8. hugging while walking
9. eye-to-eye hugs
10. hiding their face in the other’s neck
11. clinging to each other
12. hugging while lying down together
13. group hugs
14. hugging with head on shoulder
15. tender embrace
16. ‘not wanting to let go’ hugs
17. hugging from behind
18. bear hugs
19. hugging with hands in each other’s pockets
20. cuddling
21. hugs and kisses
22. hugging and jumping up and down together
23. familiar hugs
24. hugging with height-difference
25. gentle hugs
26. hugging with patting on back
27. piggy back hugs
28. quick hugs
29. hugging while slow dancing
30. one-sided hugs
31. hugging while straddling the partner
32. long-lasting hugs
33. ‘picking them up’ hugs
34. hugging while grabbing butt
35. cuddle pile

1. goodnight kisses
2. hand kisses
3. smiling while kissing
4. lips barely touching
5. morning kisses
6. slow kisses
7. passionate kisses
8. kisses on the cheek
9. first kisses
10. goodbye kisses
11. welcome home kisses
12. kisses on the corner of their mouth
13. frustrated kisses
14. kissing each other breathless
15. soothing kisses
16. nose kisses
17. kisses as a promise
18. short pecks
19. forehead kisses
20. kisses on head
21. “we’ll face this together” kisses
22. kisses in the rain
23. life-or-death kisses
24. kisses for a cover
25. hard kisses
26. giggling while kissing
27. desperate kisses
28. neck kisses
29. hushed conversation in-between kisses
30. eyelid kisses
31. gentle stroking of cheeks
32. small kisses
33. kissing it better
34. jaw kisses
35. wake-up kisses
36. kissing away tears
37. public kisses
38. relieved kisses
39. kisses for comfort
40. tummy kisses
41. kisses to shut them up
42. slowly kissing down the body
43. “we’ll see each other again” kisses
44. kissing each finger
45. sleepy kisses
46. angry kisses
47. feather-light kisses
48. kisses with trembling lips
49. secret kisses
50. kisses with their last dying breath

1. touching foreheads
2. running fingers through hair
3. hiding face in neck
4. caressing the other’s hand
5. feeling their pulse
6. patting the other’s head
7. holding hands
8. shielding the other one with their body
9. listening to the other’s heartbeat
10. spooning at night
11. laying their hand on the other’s neck
12. pushing a strand of hair behind their ear
13. nudging the other one
14. putting an arm around the other’s waist
15. hugging each other
16. massaging them
17. holding the other’s chin up
18. squishing the other’s cheek
19. high fiving
20. bandaging/stitching up an injury
21. kissing the other’s brow
22. falling asleep on the other’s shoulder
23. carrying the other one in their arms
24. whispering in their ear, lips touching the skin
25. stroking the other’s arm soothingly
26. kissing the top of their head
27. pulling the other one towards them
28. feeling for each other in the dark
29. tickling the other one
30. grabbing onto their arm
31. doing a pinky swear
32. caressing the other’s back
33. tasting their smile
34. washing the other’s body
35. kissing their bruises and scars
36. lifting the other one up
37. putting their head on the other’s chest
38. stroking their leg
39. leaning into the other’s side
40. patting them on the back
41. sitting close and knees touching
42. braiding the other’s hair
43. giving them a piggy-back ride
44. sitting on the other’s lap
45. feeling their temperature
46. linking arms with each other
47. touching their elbow to get their attention
48. dancing with each other
49. holding onto the other’s shoulders for support
50. putting a hand over the other’s mouth to shut them up

“You think you know yourself inside out when you live alone, but you don’t, you believe you are a calm untroubled or at worst melancholic person, you do not realise how irritable you are, how any little thing, the wrong kind of touch or tone, a lack of speed in answering a question, a particular cast of expression will send you into apoplexy because you are unchill, because you have not learnt how to soften your borders, how to make room.”

“When I’d first loved him, I wanted to take him apart, as a child dismembers a clockwork toy, to comprehend the inscrutable mechanics of its interior. I wanted to see him far more naked than he was with his clothes off.”

“I loved you before I was born. It doesn’t make sense, I know. I saw your eyes before I had eyes to see. And I’ve lived longing for your every look ever since. That longing entered time as this body. And the longing grew as this body waxed. And the longing grows as this body wanes. That longing will outlive this body. I loved you before I was born. It makes no sense, I know. Long before eternity, I caught a glimpse of your neck and shoulders, your ankles and toes. And I’ve been lonely for you from that instant. That loneliness appeared on earth as this body. And my share of time has been nothing but your name outrunning my ever saying it clearly. Your face fleeing my ever kissing it firmly once on the mouth. In longing, I am most myself, rapt, my lamp mortal, my light hidden and singing. I give you my blank heart. Please write on it what you wish.”

“In those city rooms, I wrote a poem. I wrote another. I wrote a book. If the poems that came to me on those nights might be considered love poems, then they were in love with rain and alpine flowers, with the strange vocabularies of a pregnant body, with clouds and with grandmothers. No poem arrived in praise of the man who slept next to me as I wrote, the man whose moonlit skin always drew my lips towards him. The love I held for him felt too vast to pour into the neat vessel of a poem. I couldn’t put it into words. I still can’t.”

Eternally Grateful, Joan Angel