Check It out

We sat on different sides of the porch.
The sky was flat and black
as a freshly washed chalkboard,
all the bright equations erased
as if by some giant galactic hand
while fireflies mimicked the missing stars.

Please remember what I told you to forget

What split us? Maybe me having to be right,
maybe you having to be snide,
maybe it was X + Y never really equaling Z.
Maybe it was the way your almost orange cat
scratched at the bottom of the stairs,
or the old issues my white stray found
behind the Recycle can. Maybe it was just
the constant criticism of the crickets.

Please remember what I told you to forget

Take the time to look out your window,
note how the stars have returned.
We agree that neither of us
enjoys Long Division.
If we reduce the fractions,
perhaps we can find a common denominator.

Please remember what I told you to forget