Four Take Away One Equals Four

Chris Ellery

August 13, 2023

The word algebra comes from the Arabic al-jabr, “reunion of broken parts, bonesetting” 

“Algebra,” Wikipedia

Four fast old friends—quatros compañeros—

at a coffee bar in San Angelo, Texas.

It might be for the last time—

one is moving out of state. 

Joking, signifying, telling stories, being present.

Suddenly all fall silent, confronted with 

the latest breaking insanity 

on someone’s smartphone news feed. 

Cruelty and anger, darkness and conflagration.

What is the duty of the old

in the face of the world’s fractures?

In the algebra of unbreakable communion,

every heart that is broken open 

is the highest degree of heaven,

invariable solution of every problem,

equal to the constant of loving kindness.

Chris Ellery, longtime citizen of San Angelo, is author of All This Light We Live In and four other poetry collections. His poems have appeared recently or are forthcoming in The Christian Century, Wholeness: A Wising Up Anthology, Book of Matches, and divot. He is a member of the Texas Association of Creative Writing Teachers and the Institute of Texas Letters.