MATH & SCIENCE
MATH & SCIENCE
for Barry
I was thirty-five when Mom diedat sixty-six. Forty-one when Owendied at forty-six. A tiny lull, then(still) forty-one when Dad diedat seventy-six. Now I am sixty,Barry, & you are goneat sixty-nine. For nineteen yearsit was just you & me. We talkedon the phone, let’s say, once a week.Nine hundred & eighty-eight times.Except that year when we didn’t talk.Nine hundred & thirty-six times.If we saw each other once a month,except for that year afterwe fought, that’s two hundred& sixteen times we saw each otherwhen it was just us. The final wispof smoke from your last cigarette
may still be discernable among the clouds:the precise composition of smoke really depends on the nature of the fuel,the temperature of the flame,& wherever the hell the wind is going& whether it’s in a hurry. Math& science are notable waysto not think about thingsthat are not math & science.
Stuart Ross6 June 2020
for Barry
I was thirty-five when Mom diedat sixty-six. Forty-one when Owendied at forty-six. A tiny lull, then(still) forty-one when Dad diedat seventy-six. Now I am sixty,Barry, & you are goneat sixty-nine. For nineteen yearsit was just you & me. We talkedon the phone, let’s say, once a week.Nine hundred & eighty-eight times.Except that year when we didn’t talk.Nine hundred & thirty-six times.If we saw each other once a month,except for that year afterwe fought, that’s two hundred& sixteen times we saw each otherwhen it was just us. The final wispof smoke from your last cigarette
may still be discernable among the clouds:the precise composition of smoke really depends on the nature of the fuel,the temperature of the flame,& wherever the hell the wind is going& whether it’s in a hurry. Math& science are notable waysto not think about thingsthat are not math & science.
Stuart Ross6 June 2020
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