Night Maths
You text two kisses
to my words and moon and three.
My three are lowercase
and one of yours is a capital X
which might make it equal
to two small kisses
in the calculations of affection.
Oh, I would rather no kisses –
how tyrannous they are,
like the meting out of candy;
here, you may have one marshmallow
(because, today, I love you less).
Tomorrow, perhaps, a pillow of sweetness
(think about what you've done).
What the Poet Says
'Night Maths' looks at what can be lost and gained in translation when messaging – all that might be imagined into when the intricate algebras from each side might not seem to hold each other in balance.
Em Gray is a neurodivergent poet living in Brighton, UK. She has been highly commended by the Forward Prize, shortlisted for the Creative Future Writers' Award and has won second prize in the Mslexia Poetry Competition. Her work appears in several anthologies, and she has, most recently, been interviewed by Modron Magazine as part of the 'More Than Human' series.
Bluesky: @em-words.bsky.social