thirteen is my favorite number
unlucky I know
but it works in my mind

it's perfect
and maybe partly it's because of how disliked it is
While me

I love how the one and the three go together
and make four

and I love how they seem not to be two
the one every one usually likes
but they really are

when you take one away from three
or when you give one to negative three

they are still two

the simple mathematics of one and three
they are the possibilities

the lonely one
and the three's a crowd
but two can be too much
when no one is talking

and spelling it out just seems right
with its t-t and its e-e
and the way your tongue almost reaches your lips
when you say it out

loud

So when they ask me to
pick a number between one and ten

my number will be four
but thirteen knows

thirteen is my favorite number