Numbers and Letters
By: Timothy Law
If A equals B
Then you've definitely lost me
I raise up my hand, so hesitantly
When we square root R
You have taken us too far
My brain is out of my head, it now sits in a jar
Negative one minus three, then plus two
It makes total sense, not to me, but to you
I just shrug my shoulders, not sure what to do
"It's easy," you say
And then you smile in that way
As if you believe that I will understand it one day
But that day will not come
My brain is all numb
When it comes to mathematics I think I'm quite dumb
Words on the other hand
I think are quite grand
The greatest thing in the whole of the land
A picture so vivid
It would make artists livid
Within the mind's eye mere words have delivered
Words like "Pop", and "Snap", and a cat's meow
They can describe the creamiest milk from a cow
In fact, I'm so thirsty that I want a glass right now
Words have power that numbers lack
I place your equations in a sack
Then I bury them somewhere along a linear track
I say "Bye, bye numbers," and I'm less stressed
To me it's simple, words are best
But then you hit me with yet another surprise test
You ask me about a train
It is traveling from Maine
And I decide that you've finally driven me insane
Then I see that smile once more
The one that I adore
With uncertainty looming I just mumbled "Four?"
You jump up with glee
I have made you happy
I said the right answer when I could have said "Three"
Now I hang with the nerds
We're like a flock of birds
I've learned how to translate your question from numbers to words
Maths is still far from a cinch
I give myself a pinch
With every right answer, my confidence grows another inch
But what happens when
I go into grade ten?
My fear of mathematics will all start again
But you tell me "No"
You say "Just give it a go"
Turn numbers into letters, watch my confidence grow
Now with each test
I just do my best
I remember your mantra and my brain does the rest
Sometimes I'm right
I can see the light
Still, on occasion confusion gives me a fright
I just wanted to say
Thanks for that day
And the way that you made all the fear go away
-