Number Cruncher
by Melissa Jordan
you would sit
watching soap operas
and doing the cross word
focused
relationship with every letter
you didn't always know English
used to speak Slovak
that was before you saw
a green lady
with torch held aloft
men took your names down
dropped
the umlaut
you learned quickly
but still nervous in English class
always better at math
numbers have no tenses
grew up to crunch Navy numbers
budget analyst
world war two hard work to promotion after promotion
you killed time at work
not watching soap operas
but doing the cross word