I have never been very good at math

but if i had a nickel for every passport in my nightstand,

a dime for every stripe on my black belt,

a quarter for every crossword rejected by NYT,

and a swiss franc for every time i’ve flown across the world to weed a beekeeper’s garden,

i would have 45 cents and one franc.

that’s not very much money. or a very useful assortment.

but

i would rather spend my time scraping the surface of one million ideas

writing five hundred thousand new beginnings

rather than collect all my coins from one thing,

like a mariah carey holiday special.

i prefer to be

young and naive and bad at math

shaking a jar full of mixed currency

making my presence known with a pocket full of thoughts.

but as i type this

i remember i was an AP calculus tutor

back in the day

so maybe i am good at math

but it’s more fun to think in words

at least, that’s how i think.

back to the words

my partner kelley, who is very good at math.