“The Numbers,” by WITS Student Cieaunna Osborne
April 12, 2016
The Numbers
There’s this tree I see every day I count every little baby bird
one… two… three… four… perfect little birds I keep walking
thinking about all the homework I have counting out every
assignment
One… two… three… four… five. I make my life better by using
numbers for everything, I guess you could say my life is an
equation waiting to be solved. Hoping someday someone
will understand how truly amazing numbers can be. I count
backwards when I’m trying to sleep
Five… four… three… two… one… I think I might be trying
to solve the hardest equation of them all. Knowing I can’t
solve this I keep counting to calm my thoughts until I count
too far… numbers are the death of me and I see the light
going out I count back one last time I think of everything the
four perfect birds and all the homework I have I don’t care
anymore so I count down one last time five… four… three…
two… one… done.
Cieaunna Osborne wrote this poem while a student at West Seattle High School, with WITS Writer-in-Residence Daemond Arrindell. She will be opening for Jacqueline Woodson, who is giving a reading for SAL’s WYNK Series at Town Hall Seattle on Tuesday, April 12th.