Equations

memorization always fails me;
the idothisudothat equations
solve themselves while
I stand on sidelines
doubting the obvious

despair shows up
uninvited, to squander
foolish hope that we
might arrive at
different answers

lost in our mathematics,
any epiphany I ever had,
how we x and y and z
remain an abstract
I can't get a grip on

we speak in tongues;
your words float in my mind
like figures in a times table

I respond with my best guess,
waving from another corner
fingers crossed behind my back