The Algebra of Us
If x equals
a positive two
then we two
should equal something
greater and higher,
improved and enhanced--
the rate of happiness
as measured in this graph--
steadily going higher
reaching into the sky
--love on and on.
Rise over run
I rise with the glittering sun
and my mind seeks you out
in the picket-fence of a polynomial
stretching across a dusty board
as I stretch across the fields
rivers, lakes, sparkling highways
that are between us--
and in my mind I run to you.
The equation zeroes out
for none could compare
to the balance equation
of your heart and mine.
A perfect square-
the breath of trembling warm space
between us--when our fingers intertwine,
when you finally look at me
and know--ours is slope-intercept formula.
I was reaching higher and higher,
dreaming of a startling awakening into feeling
like the first breath of the lilac bush
as the days lazily grow longer
evenings turning to gold--inhaling,
and I find I can't quite breathe
around you, my heart shivers
like a stricken fox
deep in the tangle of vines and trees--
here you have intercepted me,
and the line of me curves
up to eternity, in a helpless smile--
and wanting to run barefoot across the grass,
to spend even a moment in the breeziness
of your sun-bright present.
X and Y, and here is the point
of our knowing--the data points are graphed,
and we fit together on this line,
a point of perfection--combine terms of comfort
and shuddering with the nearness
of something so wonderful.
One and one equals--
one.