Social Equations


           A loves B more than anything,
           and B loves A far more
           than A will ever know,

           but when they were together,
           most of the regular sample space
           thought B was just a factor of A
           or that A was always greater than B.
           B felt like a lesser part,
           a pre-determined constant:
           constraints on the final product
           seemed hopeless.

           So B left A and moved in with C.
           There were the usual undertones
           about hanging around
           with the wrong subsets,
           but B felt better
           and began to laugh again.

           And to everyone's surprise,
           A began to function with D,
           a temporary thing
           with limited variables
           and a lack of infinite terms
           that quickly exhausted itself.

           Then A drank for a while, became bitter
           and hard to have around,
           began to advertise in lonely heart columns,
           lost ten pounds, took vitamins and felt lousy.

           A number of months later,
           C left B for f.
           These things are transient, C said,
           and f, trying not to smile, said nothing.

           Some of the factors
           tell A and B they should be together,
           but the math is all wrong,
           so they continue to cruise the matrices
           and meet occasionally
           at the Factor Cafe,
           where they chat and order
           two entrees and share them:
           who gets more of what
           is no longer a problem.
          

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