I have a crush on Science.
I like his no-nonsense ones and zeros way about things.
He’s not always right, but I love his passion to part the fog,
Chase the gray around the classroom until it picks a side – black or white.

Science lives in a world I envy
where 1+1 still equals 2
He hangs out with the Math kids,
He combs spreadsheets and slides down rulers,
He knows the names of all the things
Because he labeled them himself.

Me and my glasses sidle up to Science in homeroom,
Asking, “How was your summer?”
Knowing perfectly well that while I skinny-dipped at the sandpit,
Splashing off bean field dust and hormones,
Blue-tongued from bomb pops and the taste of longing,
He was in summer school studying the birds and bees
That stung me so sweetly.

I saunter by Science in the lunchroom, mustering my best smile
Like the hot dog I am, too cool for school.
When I ask him to dance in the darkened gym,
We are white socks and highwaters, bare feet and sunburn; we are
Life. Science.
We need each other.

We meet in the back seat of our curiosity
Where grace notes and lab notes tumble equally
Through inexpert hands,
Sorting, searching, seeking the gray.

As if poems or petri dishes could ever explain
The chemistry of love
Or the why of us.