Who says that math has no emotion
that it is a logical, rational subject?
No one who really thinks
about what numbers mean,
like the ones I have tumbling
around in my mind today
on imaginary dice,
can say that math is void of feeling.

8 miles on my bike
with 2 little girls behind me
seems to make me so proud that
I want to write
but then I hear
38 million cut from our school district
as opposed to last week’s 35
1 furlough day coming our way

but nothing can compare to the number
500,000, which may seem small
next to 38 mil, but so large
when we hear it is lives lost
in 2 days, swallowed by the earth
in a country that is already
at the peak of poverty

When I add up my numbers it makes
38,500,011
and it is heavier
than any words in any other subject.