written and posted by members of Lancashire Dead Good Poets' Society

Monday 16 December 2013

Numbers

08:55:00 Posted by Colin Daives , , 2 comments
I love numbers. They are ever-present in the world. Be it to measure the distance between David Cameron and the real people of the land (counting using a unit that shows no understand of the plight of the masses = a lot); to count how many times Nigella's breasts sway as she walks from her car to the courtroom (counting 1 for left then 1 for right = a lot) or to calculate how much the taxpayer is being ripped off by politicians who take a minimum of sixty six grand out of the public purse in just wages, get paid to sit on other boards and committees and still be allowed to have another job advising in industries that require legislation from parliament (counting 1 for every time they show contempt for anybody who asks them a question about anything = a lot)

Numbers belong to everyone, and everyone is a number. Yes we all have names like Barry, Susan and Tarquin, but we are single digits in a much bigger number.

Lets take a very big number like 10.

If 1 and 3 didn't get on and 5 hated 8 because 8 is an even number and odd number think that even numbers should sit at the back of the bus. Then 10 felt a little self conscious because she has 2 digits and isn't as slim as the single figures. Then because they can see the all the other numbers follow 1, 2 and 3 they break off and form a government that makes sure all the single figures are OK and seem to believe that all the other numbers need them to survive.

Well let's just say, that 10 won't work as well.

There are 7 billion people on this planet which looks like this 7,000,000,000,000.

And unless all the numbers work together and help each other and find a way to be a whole. This 7,000,000,000,000 would be a complete mess with no hope of making past the next millennium.


Calculate

1+1=2
That's me and you
Together
Forever

2-1=1
That's me
Because I slept with 3
I was drunk you see

1+4=5
That's me and my mates
Together at the gates
No more lands to take

5x6=30
Now time is ticking on
I need to learn a new song
As my mate are all but gone

I am 1
but feel like a number 2
because of the way I treated you

I am...

2 comments:

Ashley Lister said...

Love this post. My only quibble would be stanza two - is the sum correct?

Ash

Colin Daives said...

Thank you, I hadn't noticed that. The error has been corrected.