Lost Love's Distance Poem by Paul Hartal

The astrophysicist aimed the telescope at Antares.
Oh, this red giant of the Milky Way Galaxy is so beautiful, he said.
Almost as bright as the stars Aldebaran and Regulus.
Have a look, he told his assistant.

Almost as bright as the star Aldebaran and Regulus,
Repeated the assistant.
Yes, the professor said, it shines like a brilliant diamond
in the night sky, surrounded by colorful cosmic clouds
And winding dust lanes.

Then five years elapsed and one moonless night
The astrophysicist again aimed his telescope at Antares.
But he could not concentrate as his thoughts
Constantly returned to his lost love.

A few days later he met her at a cozy restaurant.
They sat and ate and sipped their coffee and talked.

You were once so close to me, he said to her.
Yet now you are drifting more and more away.
I feel as if you were farther away than Antares.
You know how far it is?

Yes, I know, she said. You were a good teacher.
Antares is about 250 light-years distant from the Earth.
That's pretty far away since light travels very fast,
At a velocity of 300,000 kilometers each second.
In other words, the distance between us exceeds
250 times 10 trillion kilometers, and is still growing.

Then the waiter came and brought them the bill.