Math Homework

I was just trying to finish my math homework

I only had two problems left but my mind was consumed with other problems,

 problems in the world

They say start by figuring out what you’re trying to find

But how can I find peace in a world of brokenness 

In a world where children die, parents cry, everyone lies, and only few try

Try to make it better, try to help others, try to move on to the next step 

Finding the zeros

This is where certain groups are represented while others are factored out 

But sometimes I get stuck

I get stuck wondering why minority issues, gun control, and climate change don’t seem to be important enough factors 

And I get stuck wondering if this polynomial can even factor

So then I begin to divide

But what more dividing can I do to my race, my community, my country

Factoring was challenging but dividing is even harder 

I like to see things come together but today division is everywhere

People divided amongst people, countries divided between states, love divided against hate

Nonetheless I have found my zeroes, so the question is solved

I type the numbers in but my answers are wrong

I start to panic and think What if I didn’t divide correctly?

Maybe I wrote down the wrong numbers

Maybe I analyzed the wrong situation and gave the wrong solutions 

As I look closely I realized that I typed ordered pairs

I had done more than it asked of me

Is that where I’m messing up in life too?

Am I doing more than what is required but still getting failed results?

So I try again with just the numbers but I receive yet another incorrect message

I am now on my final check 

My heart races 

I check over my work again and again and again

I divide and divide and simplify so I think maybe there’s an extra space

This must surely be the answer

I press submit but before I check to see if it was correct I wake up

It’s probably around 11:40 and it’s dark out, and I’m scared

I’m scared that out of all the three chances I was given I still couldn’t get it right

I still couldn’t save the world 

So I sit there crying silently, thinking to myself how 

I was just trying to finish my math homework