Arithmetic and Gravity
Arithmetic is true,
relentlessly.
Number after number
march in formation to an infinite war.
In fact, everyone who has ever died
was killed by equations.
Gravity is true,
but it doesn’t feel pain
like the 107 billion people
who never lived a moment
free from its vertical tyranny.
Yes, arithmetic and gravity are true,
but they become alive
when stories wrap truth in flesh,
so we can touch it, kiss it,
hold its tear-streaked face in our hands,
look it straight in the eye
and see someone there
who looks a lot like ourselves.