[Glenn Wright]

Hi, Matt—

It took me a few readings to figure out why I found this piece so moving.
I finally concluded that your N’s use of random trivia and humor in the “Dad joke” about Poe, Prometheus, and Livermore was attempting to disguise his shock and grief at the sudden ending of his love affair. After shattering the fragile incandescent bulb of his romance, he has to clean up the fragments, injures himself further in the process, and the black raven feathers remind him that his love will be nevermore.