Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Emily BakerSeptember 01, 2017
(via iStock)(via iStock)

Numbers just don't stick on me the way words do

I see numbers and I freeze up

My eyes widen

My chest tightens and my heart races

My breath catches

I feel small, stupid

But I just don’t understand them

I am immune

Instead of burrowing into my mind and claiming it

They simply bounce off

Like my skin is made of metal

Rubber

Some impenetrable material

They say I’m unintelligent

“You should know this by now.”

They say I’m lazy

“You’re not trying hard enough.”

But I just don’t understand them

Maybe I am just stupid

Maybe I am just lazy

 

Or maybe I’m just scared of numbers

 

 

 

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

Pope Leo XIV urged new archbishops to help him foster unity in a church rich in diversity. Eight of those new archbishops are from the United States, and they spoke to Catholic News Service about how they can help promote fraternity in today’s polarized world.
This week on “Jesuitical,” Zac and Ashley chat with Christopher White about his new book, ‘Pope Leo XVI: Inside the Conclave and the Dawn of a New Papacy.’
JesuiticalJune 30, 2025
Kerry Weber, incoming president of the Catholic Media Association, and executive editor of America Magazine, speaks June 26, 2025, during the Catholic Media Conference in Phoenix. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)
Kerry Weber is an executive editor for America. On May 20, 2025, the Catholic Media Association announced that she was elected president,
Grace LenahanJune 30, 2025
"The whole church needs fraternity, which must be present in all of our relationships, whether between lay people and priests, priests and bishops, bishops and the pope," he said during his homily at Mass on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul June 29.