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.