The Mad Mathematician

 THE MAD MATHEMATICIAN

After factoring down the equation 

to simplify what presents on 

the surface as a complex problem, 

we’ll scrape the lowest common 

denominator which is oysters, 

class, just oysters, oysters, oysters.

Huge oysters too big for human hands: 

sky without street lights, a baby’s head

emerging in a sliver of crescent moon, 

the sudden and wordless yearning

to peer behind the dark cloud. 

Slick oysters that slip your grip

if you squeeze too tight: three deer

dew-stepping at dawn, a toddler

in her highchair babbling the bright

excitement, the musky scent

of bacon and morning breath. 

Hidden oysters, too, veiled beneath

familiar mud, quietly waiting

in the sludgy waters of your routine

trudge around campus, my walk

home, the freedom of a dropped backpack.

We're dealing with the boundless here,

remember! This means there are

infinite center-points, and the answer

we're after, then, is everywhere!

Oysters, oysters, oysters, class! 

This is all the problem asks,

see? And inside every single one 

the pearl, which is the last solution.