A Way To Escape The Math Poem by Jim Yerman

Here's a little bit of news that might not be of interest to you but I'll tell you anyway…
Bryan, our eldest son, turns 45 today.

Here's another little bit of news to share as we travel down life's path…
each year we get a little older…no matter how we try…we can't escape the math.

"Deborah! Help me out."
I asked since I've never been very good at adding numbers in my head.
"If Bryan is 45…that makes me…
After punching numbers into her calculator,
"Old! " Is what she said.

45…how that number brings back memories of a time not so long ago when a younger me played my 45 PRM records on my stereo.

"My grandpa called it a gramophone." I told Deborah, "if the truth be told…I remember how I was but a child then…and my grandpa…he was old."

Still punching numbers on her calculator…Deborah smiled then said, "Wow! "
"Your grandpa was around 69 years old back then…and you're that same age now! "

I can't be as old as the numbers say…I thought in words best left unspoken.
I think there is a very good chance…Deborah's calculator must be broken.

Because here's some other more important news
that, for me, with each years gains more and more appeal:
my wrinkles show only how old by body is…
not how old I feel.

I'm glad to wish Bryan a 45th Happy birthday…
as he travels down his chosen path…
while at the same time discovering…
There is a way to escape the math.

When it comes to the mathematics of age
and numbers and birthdays…I have simply redefined it…
and I've hidden Deborah's calculator
in a place she'll never find it