Subtraction
by Elizabeth Anderson
Do the math, they say,
maybe you'll get it right;
but life is spinning before me,
a top that's old and frail.
I'm dying as I listen
to lectures and equations-
My brain keeps going back to
the sight of blood on snow.
They're circling like dogs,
teeth bared sharp and frightening;
she's dancing with believers
and I'm left all alone.
Her sweet smile is a memory
in my mind, so cold with numbers,
and as dawn breaks
over this terrible dungeon,
I'm ripping, just like her.
maybe you'll get it right;
but life is spinning before me,
a top that's old and frail.
I'm dying as I listen
to lectures and equations-
My brain keeps going back to
the sight of blood on snow.
They're circling like dogs,
teeth bared sharp and frightening;
she's dancing with believers
and I'm left all alone.
Her sweet smile is a memory
in my mind, so cold with numbers,
and as dawn breaks
over this terrible dungeon,
I'm ripping, just like her.