casualty
he was a number cruncher
hadn’t much time for cause & effect
[that is] until he started counting down the days
you see on theoretical paper
everything for him was black & white
—it’s where things added up with the help of
simple mathematics & determination
eventually becoming balanced
one way or the other
near the end the numbers went negative
underground so to speak
forcing him to change his ways
pursuing fractions of himself
inside newly discovered wormholes
may two thousand twenty-three
copyright j matthew waters
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