The first minutes of your life
you open your mouth and someone
loves you just enough to give you a name.

The last few minutes of your life
you close your mouth and give back
your name to a god
who is only maybe there
and only maybe loves you.

---

when i was little, i asked my pastor if
judas had been in love with jesus.
he sent me back to my mother early, with
a note for her to explain “things.”
but no matter what anyone said, i couldn’t
be convinced that the bible
was anything less than a love story.
(i kissed your cheek in front of them all
and in doing so, i think that i
damned the both of us. you,
to be left crucified and bleeding and
paying for my sins. me, to be left
wandering and wanting and
never to see your face again.)
k. wright, judas

---

If only our eyes saw souls
instead of bodies
how very different our ideals
of beauty would be
Asim Javid