word problem

she is faithless

the way a valley divides

for settlements and

agriculture and arithmetic

and law and alleys

and red-light, and him

and her

women don’t talk about

their faithlessness, they

do the math confidentially.

the other man I think about

divided into me

equals

an alley, if 1 woman

is distributed among 5 men

unequally and obsessively

over 3 years what are the remainders

and how can they be grieved –

it becomes a word problem

for which there are none.

she is an aberration

I think about him when –

a sorcerer

I’m with you –

an algorithm

I don’t know why –

a fraction

I’m sorry –

in a whole.

original artwork by kaitlin deasy