Angel Poem by Za7ra Sulaiman

Congratulations—you've mastered the art of pretending to be human. You do it so well, so effortlessly, that even the neighbors are fooled. They see you reading the Sunday paper, sipping your coffee, nodding along to small talk. But I know better. I know you.

That's why I don't bring up the weather anymore. I don't talk about the rain. I don't ask questions I know you won't answer. Instead, after you fall asleep, I press my lips to your closed eyelids, your cheeks, memorizing the way your breath slows in the quiet. I know we're not the same.

You're something else entirely. Something otherworldly.

An angel in disguise. An angel in my eyes.

I bought a house once, a place to settle, to live—but walls and a roof mean nothing when you're not there. You are the home I'm missing. And I know nothing good lasts forever, but nights with you feel like they might. So I whisper, go slow. Let me stay here just a little longer.

I never knew I needed you until I found you for the first time. Until I looked into your eyes and forgot how to breathe. I stumble. I fell. I wake up inside a dream I don't want to leave.

So teach me how to fly.

You, my angel. You, the one I can't stop reaching for. Are you mine tonight? Even if it's just for tonight?