I still smell her hair
coconut, it smelled like coconut
and her little earrings tinkled
when she laughed too hard
and she sang
like it was the last song she'd ever sing
and she ran
like she would leave the world behind
but now I'm alone
with only her memories
to provide me company

they said we couldn't be one
because she joined her palms while praying
and I didn't
because she sang praises of Krishna and Shiva
and I didn't
because I was to read the Quran
and she didn't
because her god and my god
were just not the same.

I wonder if all these gods,
and all these messengers
had an agreement
that one god's people
were not supposed to mingle
with the other's
and one who defied this law
would have only one fate.

if it is so,
then I shun all gods
because I'd rather be defined
by who I am
than by who I bow down to.

-a.g.