A Japanese practice of aesthetics,
broken pottery pieced back together
with golden lacquer, the shimmer
doing the opposite of obscuring repair;
the gold creating vein-like patterns that say,
“Look at me, I have survived!”
The philosophy is simple:
A damaged vessel is still beautiful;
a body that has broken
is not worthless
just because it is a body that has broken.

She and I believe in love
the way a Jew and a Christian believe
in God. But is it the same God?
Was this the same love?
Her love believes two bodies
must be complete before coming together.
My love stands ready with golden lacquer,
not present for just a complete whole,
but also the broken pieces,
the cracks in between.
That which is damaged is still beautiful.
Let’s learn to heal our faults
together and shimmer.
Look at us, we have survived!

But sometimes, no matter the effort,
interfaith just doesn’t work;
we did not survive
for no other reason than simply
a difference of belief.
And now there are new broken pieces,
the crimson weeping from fresh cracks
is not the gold I was looking for