Numerology--By Richard Carl Subber (Rick)--United States

Numerology

He’s counting his fingers now,

another threshold passed without a look back.

He puts some energy into it,

doesn’t remember to count every one every time,

but he’s counting, he’s doing it.

Old Grandfather starts it off,

tapping fingertips, “One, two, three…”

and he picks up the rhythm,

splaying the fingers of one hand,

fearlessly extending the count, “…four, five, seven, eight.…”

A couple of those eager fingers get counted twice,

sticking up like chicks in the nest stretching for the worm,

and that’s alright, those fingers are stretching

for the joy of discovery and the cool of flashing in the air

in the ritual of counting fingers with Old Grandfather,

and counting twice is confirmation, not a sin.

We do it again.

Same noisy delight. Different count.

Someday he’ll understand that doing it together is what counts.

Richard Carl Subber (Rick) is a freelance editor, a writing coach and a historian. He lives with his family in Natick, Massachusetts, USA. He’s a former newspaper reporter/editor who now indulges his love of the right words.  Rick is a proud grandpa who is teaching his granddaughter to read and write, in case there is poetry in her future.  His poetry appears in The Australia Times Poetry Magazine, miller’s pond poetry magazine, The RavensPerch, Northern Stars, and elsewhere. His blog: http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/