By EMILY WYKOFF
I’ve loved and lost and respected you
Things I never thought I’d say
I never wanted to love you
Nonetheless, the adoration found a way
They say that love is a choice
But, for you, it felt like falling
Faster than ever before
For a writer, a muse is enthralling
The problem is your work
I can’t shake it
I can’t live without it
Love stories I never thought I’d hear
(Our imagined future I thought was so clear)
I lay this verse as a veneration
Praying at the altar below your feet
Begging you to continue your prose and verse
Revering a monument I can’t yet reach
I don’t know if I still love you
Maybe I never want to see you again
Still, I have to know that your words are spoken
That they’ve gotten past the break of a pen
I have to know it exists
I don’t care about things left unsaid
I care about your work
Your words demand to be read
Maybe I am upset at losing you
This loss of a would be love
I only ask that you keep writing
For me, that would be enough
Writer | Emily Wykoff ’26 | ewykoff26@amherst.edu
Editor | Caelen McQuilkin ’23 | cmcquilkin23@amherst.edu