Hidden, in our final kiss by Steven Lebow

Hidden, in our final kiss
—For Madeline S. Sable

Let all the saints there are come bless you.
May all your questions end with yes.
Let every sphinx’s riddle come back answered.
Not even one must be a guess.

May all the Hebrews there are acknowledge
the messiah made his home within your womb.
And even if it goes disputed
let them meet you at that empty tomb.

Let all the Buddhists swear you’re happy
and all the evangelicals be saved.
Until all the Moslems and the Hindus say
there’s no one left there in that common cave.

The agnostics are never sure of anything,
but the atheists claim they know.
Even when all the temples, mosques, and churches were demolished
and all their buildings decay from down below.

When all the Sikhs discard their turbans,
and all the Jews shave off their beards.
Now there is nothing that is left over
that is unknown, or even weird.

And even then, at last,
until the coming of the apocalypse.
You and I will find salvation,
hidden, in our final kiss.

by Steven Lebow

Editor’s Note: This poem alludes to much, but by the final verse, the reader understands that love is everything.