Talin Tahajian: BAPTISM

We begin our lives by dying
& waking up again, eyes sensitive

to the kind of light that exists in places
that aren't heaven. This isn't heaven.

I like the way other countries look
after midnight. Ghosts swimming

through empty chapels. That silence
is something sacred. Too dark to see

your reflection as a god in a display
window. Glass is one of the only

honest things. I love not knowing
what it means to be innocent. I rinse

my mouth with every kind of holy
water. By that, I mean I have kissed

the mouths of so many beautiful boys.
I remember thinking or saying This

is how I want to finish my life. To unlearn
the Bible, first I would have to read it

until I understand what it means
to be a religion, to embrace that sort

of death with bright things.


This poem appeared in Devil's Lake which is published twice annually at the University of Wisconsin-Madison