GO FIGURE

The numbers rule and the rules are numbered,
All of nature and the universe defined,
We measure our advances by formulas and signs,
Reduced to equations to more perfectly bind.

Counting off numbers we while away time,
Spending our portions in misguided primes,
Adding up tallies and substracting the losses,
Adjusting the ledger on what lifes very cost is.

Four noble truths hold the eight fold path,
Three is most holy to every Christian last,
Two mingled natures swirl the yin and yang,
One god said Mohammed, and to tell you I came.

Four, Three, Two, One, so the music starts,
The soulful beat massages the heart,
Tapping and clapping to our different rhythmes,
It takes no theory to predict our schismes.

Zero is most positive - despite some negative claims,
Perfectly joined without ending, or breaks,
Everything passes either through, or around it,
Zen would be zero, if Zen could be counted.


by Ian Brandt