Zero (poem)

Zero

~ after a morning listening to talk radio with tom and kat

Zero is the absence
of mass, of quantity,
the absence of absence,
a number not yet invented,
a placeholder, a phantom,
something inaudible, hollow, and clear.
Zero is the answer to the astronomical.
Zero is the edge of reason.
It is limbo, purgatory, waiting
for a chance to exist.
One plus one equals two
but minus one minus one strikes the object
from tangibility. It masquerades
as a letter, oh, sometimes it’s confused
with a fickle vowel (though not as fickle
as E). Is that a zero? Is it?
It’s not worth discussing.
Not worth radio pontifications,
crazy callers, words jotted down.
Read them backwards and what you find is
zero.