Away with Arithmetic
07/12/07
Multiply your grievances
By your lack of faith in love
And divide the product by
The amount of time
Wasted in doubt and the quotient,
You will see,
Is nothing more than
My sad eyes, mad eyes
Nothing less
Then my strained lips and
Sullen cheeks
After that is said,
Let me tell you ‘bout the swamplands
The thick air
The effervescent silence
Broken only by
The insects in my ears
And the cottonmouth
In my tent
Let me tell you ‘bout
Miami twilight
Buzzing cocaine stars
Above the stones and stoners
That lay scattered about the highway
And beneath the overpass
The manicured ghettos of the rich
The dark, brown slums
The black railroad tracks
Let me tell you ‘bout
Sweet Caribbean sunset and
Wild, wild women
Bitter sweet coffee bean skin
Curves that sway, that dance
To the beat,
Beat magical,
Beat ubiquitous sound
Of island towns
Knowing this
I will further elucidate
My madness
I fill my trunk with words and wonders
Bread, herb, hallucinations and wine
I drive out toward the brine
And the shimmering of moonbeams
Balanced on waves
To chuck my book of arithmetic
Out into the sea
Where it cannot plague me
With it’s complicated equations
And senseless answers
Nor haggle me for my
Well-hidden tears
In exchange for lies
And spider webs
-Paola C. Tavarez-