An idea that everything has an answer
defined by a set of numbers all together
letters and ideas mesh with them
creating all that is and will ever be
a solution to all even if it isn't found
the ability to make new variables
to make sense of all the nonsense
symbols that make up the connection
such comfort in knowing this now
that everything has a defined answer
no guesses and no wish wash maybes
a yes and a no a right and a wrong one
mathematics can solve all of it for us
math is everywhere and that is lovely

(substitute teacher addresses class)

Quiet!
Quotients
Quiz. . .

               ~Quantophrenia!

Quiet!
Quiz—
Quantify
Quotients. . .

               ~Question!

Quest :)

               ~Quantulate
               Quotients'
               Quantuplicity?

Quite!

Quiet.
Quiz—
Quantify
Quotients. . .

               ~Quisquilious
               Quiz!

Quiet,
Quoz!!!

               (laughter erupts)
               ~Quirky
               Quadragenarian
               Quipped
               "Quoz"!!!

Quit
Quackling!!!

               (chanting)
               ~Quirky
               Quasimodo!
               Quelch,
               Quash,
               Quell—
               Quirky
               Queasy
               Quizzes!!!

Quiet!!!
Quiet!!!

               ~Quirky
               Quasimodo!
               Quelch,
               Quash,
               Quell—
               Quirky
               Queasy
               Quizzes!!!

Quiet!!!
Quelch,
Quash,
Quell—
Quisquous
Querulists!!­!

               ~Quirky
               Quadragenarian
               Quipped
               "Quisquous
                Querulists"!!!

Q U I E T ! ! !
Q U I E T ! ! !

(school bell rings)

               ~Queue,
               Quicksticks!

Q-U-I. . .
QUIT!


© 2020 by Mark Toney. All rights reserved.

Math is a wonderful subject.
Pushing numbers through
Variously evil algorithms.

But I cannot stop writing
During this intriguing class.
I want to listen, and I do
But I’m also weaving verses
Made up of muddy threads.

My math notebook has
A large quantity of poems.
And finding that one formula
Is like looking for that one minnow
In a pond of vexingly vigorous carps.

1+1 equals 2

pa + pa equals:






papa

A sweet smile is an important part
The formula to capturing my heart

If my life were a number
line—for example—

My life starts: 0
I laugh for the first time: +2
I yell at my mom: -3
I win in school: +10
I lose a job: -11

Am I really the sum of these
parts
the absent space of
my negative numbers
in opposition to the positives

Or

Am I more of an absolute value kind of girl?

Appended streams exhume the dreams that surface in conscious guide,
As photon beams augment the seams transmitters must abide.
The quantum strings of knotted ties,
Entangling's of worlds collide,
A vortex of spiraled rings,
In scattered sets convergent glide,
The convex spacial vacuuming's, synaptic points electrified,
A hex, insatiable, stochastically adjoins frequencies over-amplified, as complex oracle valuations weight choices to decide.