The zero is a point
Barely seen, and easily overlooked
The point that no longer turns
For it is no longer a circle
The first is a line
The crack between the floorboards
The lined page of a notebook
Moving forward, moving backward
Back and forth like a creaking rocking chair
Or train tracks that run into the distance
The second is a meeting of two
The corner of a carpet
The edge of a paper
The lazy bending branches of a willow tree
Two forces together
Creating a curve
The third is a spiral
The water that spins down the drain
The wind that spins round and round
Pulling up dirt and houses
And dumping them where they don’t belong.
The fourth is simply time
Time that has always been
Time that always will be
Tick ticking around me
Both chasing me and being chased
By me.
—
Tala Alexander is 14 years old and a 9th grader at Manila Waldorf School-Quezon City, She is the daughter of Cynthia & Boyd Alexander.