You tell me
that the key
to the universe
resides in E.
To Einstein
it was simple
a point from which
the universe arises
its final catafalque.
How, I ask,
can symbolic failure
be critical,
what is so special
about five
why ought I care
for the third degree
of a natural scale
I cannot hope
to ascend.
Perhaps it is
only your eccentricity.
You tell me
to refine my vision
to consult Euler
but it is far
too transcendental
for my simple mind.

First Published in No Country, June 2024
https://www.nocountry.org/read