Matthew Friday
Calculating The Cost
I want to say to the student stressing
about the next math test, worrying her
score with never reflect her best, the
trauma adding up, she fears the rest,
that stupid tests are not the real math.
It's just the system of keeping account,
creating a product that can have skill
enough to add up spending amounts.
Math is a bee's hexagon honeycomb,
the minutes since you last saw your love
the distance the sun's hopes to roam,
the fractal divisions of the trees above,
the sum of all our warming actions,
the urgent need of healing subtractions.
Bio
Matthew James Friday is a British born writer and teacher. He has been published in numerous international journals, including, recently: Dawntreader (UK), The Dillydoun Review (USA), VerbalArt (India), and Lunch Ticket (USA). The micro-chapbooks All the Ways to Love, The Residents, Waters of Oregon and The Words Unsaid were published by the Origami Poems Project (USA). Matthew is a 2021 Pushcart Prize nominated poet.