New Math
Two and two was always four
It still is but not the way
It used to be.
You’re not allowed to use your fingers
Anymore. The kids are drawing flow
Charts that branch down the length
Of the white paper
Like a hopscotch grid.
At the bottom is the number 4
Sitting there innocently
Like a baby dragon.
How did you get here? I ask
Whatever happened to two cats
And two dogs who join together
In a big shared box
Without the drama or tragedy?
But four is more than that, they say.
It’s a square. A doorframe. Legs of a table.
Time makes it four dimensions.
One and three together is four
Too— you just needed me to get there.
But what I gave to complete your sum
Was all I had and now I’m zero
Which can always be added to four
And added to four
And added to four.
But why bother?
It adds nothing.
I’ve been reduced to a numerical sentence
That happens to be true.
As long as I’m nothing
I can give as much as I want.
At some point I expect
To get a different answer.
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