THREE LOVE POEMS FOR ALYSSA

1.
LOVE POEM FOR ALYSSA
IN ENGLISH CLASS

I will write a love poem for you, Alyssa,
dark-haired girl
who sits across from me in Comparative Literature,
one that will appeal to your English major sensibilities,
one that explores your adorable quirks I notice during class
that endear you to me in a way you will find loveable
and not creepy.

I will write,
Alyssa, I like the way you nervously chew
on the drawstring of your favorite maroon hoodie,
I like the way you sit low in your chair
with your fingers on the front of your throat,
and I like the way you read passages of Jane Eyre
aloud in class, slow and soft –
“how strange it was that I could not unlove you
merely because you had ceased to be near me” –
as if the words are your own
and you are sharing them with me as we walk
through the snow back from our first date
during which we discussed such subjects as
women in 19th-century literature
and the fleeting beauty of weather and nectarines.

2.
LOVE POEM FOR ALYSSA
AFTER THE END OF THE WORLD

Last night in the cold
on the balcony in the lodge,
I considered how beautiful you looked
as you picked off the zombies
attempting to claw their way
through our makeshift barriers.

And as you efficiently dispatched the horde,
as our fingers occasionally brushed tips
when I handed you ammunition,
I thought about saying, “how wonderful and terrible
it is that we found each other here, after the world’s end,”
but for fear of distracting you I did not,
and instead admired briefly the moon
shining through the broken windows
and illuminating with pale and delicate light
the maroon hood pulled low
over your eyes,
and your singular way
of handling a firearm,
so darkly,
and with such precision.

3.
LOVE POEM FOR ALYSSA
IN THE VACUUM OF SPACE

Finally,
I float aimlessly in the void
after the heat death of the universe
and find that, after a hundred trillion years,
I cannot unlove you.
It is very dark.

Except today
I spot a speck on the edge of the infinite horizon –
one that might be getting closer
and that is the same color
as your favorite sweatshirt.