Applied Mathematics

For a while, I've been thinking about how certain mathematical rules can be (mis)applied to relationships.  Here are some separate short poems I've had gathered into a sequence so they, I hope, form one poem that traces the rise and fall of a relationship. I'm experimenting with having some sections in the voice of one or both of the characters and others being more like a narrator's voice.  (I may have been influenced by what Tolstoy does in Anna Karenina,  dipping into the minds of the characters and then making his own commentary.)  I'm not sure how clear this sequence and structure are.

A few reminders about some of the math terms I use for those of you whose math is rusty. (I had to double check some of them myself.)
Commutative property.   A + B = B + A   (This is also a property of multiplication and addition but not of division and subtraction.)
Transitive property.  If  A = B and B = C, then A = C.  (If two separate things each equal a third thing, then those separate things also equal each other.)
Zero product property.   Any number times zero equals zero.
Order of operations.   In any complicated equation, the first thing you do is perform the operations contained in parentheses or brackets.  So in (3 + 2) x 5, you start by adding 3 and 2 before you do the multiplication.
Identity property.   Any number multiplied by one equals that same number; it is not changed.
You also need to remember that when you multiply a positive number by a negative number, you get a negative number.

Any mathematicians out there can alert me to what mistakes I've made.
Today the copy and paste process seems to have double spaced everything and moved all the lines to the left margin.  I hope you can still read it as a sequence of 12 short poems, each one with a title.

                                                                                    Applied Mathematics



1.

Identity Property


Anything multiplied by nothing but its own

singularity ends up being nothing but itself.



2.

Transitive Property



He thought:

I love sunsets.


You love sunsets.


What follows from that?



3.

Commutative Property I



She thought:

Whether I add you to me


or you add me to you,


the sum should be the same


but greater than either


one of us alone.

.

4.

Number Signs I



He thought:

Subtracting a negative can be the same


as adding a positive.



5.

Opposites



She thought:

Multiplying opposites creates a negative;


but adding the right ones can produce a positive.




6.

Simplification



Can produce the lowest common denominator-

or an elegantly balanced equation.




7.

Order of Operations


The parenthetical comments come first;

in this drama, the asides are more

meaningful than the monologues.

The longer speeches come later.



8.

Number Signs II



She thought:

Subtracting a positive can be


the same as adding a negative.



9.

Commutative Property II



They thought:

Is dividing me by you the same


as dividing you by me?



10.

Number Line



X and –X are equally far from zero,

as are love and hate from apathy.



11.

Zero Product Rule


They know:

Everything x the absence of something = nothing.






12.

Solving for X



Is a lot simpler

than answering Y.

Some variables are easier

to isolate than others.