To The Girl Sitting Beside Me in the Lecture Hall (I Don't Even Know Your Name!)

Just sitting next to you gives me the tingles
(I don’t even know your name!),
hearing the occasional sniffle you make
or the slow exhalation of your breath
makes me aware of being alive
(I don’t even know your name!);
the heat emanating from your body next to mine
keeps me warm in the drafty lecture hall,
your picking up (and putting down) of your pen
makes me take more note
than the lecture you’re taking notes of
(I don’t even know your name!);
your slow packing of your bag after every lecture
makes me wish I’d emptied out the contents of my bag
       before every lecture.

Leaving the lecture hall without having learned anything
       about you,
without having been offered your friendship,
without you beside me –
without you –
makes my steps slow and heavy with melancholy.
(I don’t even know your name!)

To be seated next to you is the reason
       I unfailingly attend every lecture …

Wait a minute - am I having a crush on you?
I don’t even know your name!