ELEGY Poem: Asymptote, by Alyssa Presley

Remember before the years betrayed us?
Marked and scraped us?
I take a look at my hands
In the mirror, in my eyes
There is a tiredness that cannot be named.

Do you remember?
Do you want to go back?
Would you take a chance knowing that
This is the outcome?
That we became who we are.

An asymptote is a series of lines that grow
Closer together in mathematics
But they never intersect
I was always just close enough to you
But never to touch.

Are we destined for this to be our lifetime?
You – warm and full but never
Quite in reach and I
Angled and disjointed, can it be fixed?
Can it be fixed? Can I be fixed?

A note on Asymptote: This poem was written as a way to honor the “death” of the longest relationship I had ever been in. We had been together for 4 years, with the last year marked with a long list of hardships. By the end, we knew that there was nothing more left between us. While I knew I needed to let go, I always wondered if it was something I would ever want to live through again. Thus, this poem was written to reflect on that death and consider the human condition through a complicated and unhealthy romantic relationship