Too Late

His jawline is strong. Manly. This incongruity leaps out at me for some reason. Perhaps it’s because I have always equated religion with weakness. But this man… this man I can see beyond the cassock and collar. His skin is clear and radiates a softness I wouldn’t have thought imaginable without touch. His lips are not too slim, not too full. Just right. And his eyes tell stories I want to listen to right into the early hours when the light of day is blissfully absent. To my left stands my soon-to-be-wife. And soon the soon-to-be will be no more.

Jonathan Hill Merits