i started solving equations
because they didn’t ask questions.
no why, no how come,
just: isolate x.
balance both sides.
make it neat.

in algebra,
there’s always a method.
expand the brackets,
simplify the mess.
rearrange until it makes sense.

simultaneous questions
felt easier than real ones;
two unknowns,
but at least they listened.
at least they resolved
if you followed the rules.

quadratics fall apart and still come back
to a single solution.
i envied that.

and if i got the answer wrong,
at least i could circle it,
mark where it went wrong,
and fix it.
it wouldn’t be perfect
but at least i could
correct my errors.

in maths,
there’s always a way back.

but in life,
the mistakes don’t
      show up clean.
there’s no
            neat solution,
no second chance to
              fix what’s broken.

so for now,
i’ll solve problems
that i can actually solve,
and fix the things
  i can control.