Third Crush
After David Mamet
One day I met a woman with eyes like a Townes Van Zandt song
She told me I looked like Jesus, or perhaps Adam
We got along like dykes and dogs, but
I knew it wouldn’t last
so I decided to love her leave her and spend the rest of my life writing poems
about how much I missed her
That way, I could enjoy the pain of losing her and not have to listen to her voice
I was proud of my plan and I decided to tell my mother about it
But my mother didn’t like my plan
In fact, she got very angry
She told me that it wasn’t right to love someone when you knew you were going to leave them
I asked her if she felt that way about it why did she kick me out of the house when I was only thirty-eight?
But mother wouldn’t listen to reason
She was so upset that she called the beautiful woman
and told her what I was planning
But the beautiful woman didn’t believe her
So I loved the woman and left her
and then I sat down and wrote this poem
I hope you like it
I hope the beautiful woman reads it
I hope it makes her happy
—Jonathan Penton