A warm morning after a night full of sleep full of hope, plans
I feel young

It’s strange how my mood is affected by how my body feels.
A mystery: what is pain a message from a part of me
battling with an unseen enemy Doctors always ask
where does it hurt describe your pain on a scale
of 1 to 10 I seldom think of numbers when I’m
in pain, but ratings in life are popular I give
that song a 9 it’s good to dance to, what
about weight I’m happy if the scales
say I’m lighter.

What about school all those coveted A’s or dreaded
bad marks And voting and sports where would
they be without numbers and stock markets
and banks I’m getting confused with all this
quantification Babies and birds don’t count
I doubt the universe counts either or does
calculus when forming a new star. I don’t
know what to make of

“Mathematics is the language of the universe.”

Sometimes it makes me want to study algebra
avidly.

More often I become saddened by my ignorance
think of my failings, quantify my failures. See,
numbers sneak in when I want to be happy
and joyous.