They forgot to tell us the point.

The clock is hooked onto the wall

and has been for fifty years,

one tick a second, every
second, except for five minutes every
three and a half
years to change the
battery is that the point of learning algebra?
she asked, feet seven
point two inches from
the square linoleum floor
tiles She landed with a double click
and began pacing across the width
of the 18x16 classroom: 

5 out of 250 fingers shot up coming with

"to answer problems,"

now every single student

(well 24/25 of the students--

one was asleep) knew

that for no reason in particular

they had to garble and fumble letters and numbers

for frustrating (180*x h/d) hours

until the symbol after one equals sign

matched the one at the end of the book.

Someone said they would need to be able to

factor trinomials

someday,

in a grocery store or on a train

because those were "real life" things they were approved to

understand. 

because that lady in heels forgot. 

The students remained dubious

(not even I write equations every time I cross a bridge)

glancing apprehensively at a dark pointlessness

that would apparently follow them

for the rest of their lives. 

-Citron