Word Problem

Four less one is three.

Three less two is one.

One less three
is what, is who,
remains.

The first cell that learned to divide
learned to subtract.

Recipe:
add salt to hunger.

Recipe:
add time to trees.
Zero plus anything
is a world.

This one
and no other,
unhidden,
by each breath changed.

Recipe:
add death to life.

Recipe:
love without swerve what this will bring.

Sister, father, mother, husband, daughter.

Like a cello
forgiving one note as it goes,
then another.


Zero Plus Anything Is a World, by Jane Hirshfield


I'm afraid I've spent an absurd amount of time glued to the computer today manically working on a project that, if I'm lucky, won't even be useful until next year. After being persuaded by an article (that I had bookmarked months ago), I decided to convert an entire chapter of word problems into comic book format. I'm about halfway done.

At some point I should probably start planning for Monday.