TIM CANTOR

Numbers circle round, always in my head.

They came forth as added time. One year, added to my days. I remember the first days when I first learned to add. It was about the same time that I first learned to love. Mathematics; it is the need and the torment of almost all of human thought. A number states the day. A number states the end. Two people turn to nine. The population climbs. Numbers turn the clock. Numbers in my sleep. They pester and afflict with worries and concerns. But like all things that bring fright, they exist because I care. I love my wife, my cat, family and this life. Yet the numbers, I hate them; they prove there is an end. But these numbers that I hate bring a precious sense of sight. The numbers. I hate them, but they make me savor life.