Classic

One

people hate math
people hate life

because one is the loneliest number
and two isn't any better

because two can turn to one
quicker than I can say " two to one"

two is just as lonely as one
because two ones make two

it makes things hard when you are one
to see two together

because then you remember that you are one
and you don't have that one special person to call the one

so two is just as bad as one
because two is just two ones

three is one of the best numbers
if you can't have two, have three

three is a family
three means that even if one leaves, there'll be two to stay

three is a mom and a pop and a baby
three is two best friends plus yourself

three is the best and smallest number there will every be
three is you, him/her, and me

four is a nice gathering
four people makes a box

and if one leaves, you'll have three people to talk to
and four is two sets of two

two couples makes four a double date
and I can talk to one, or the other

five is the maximum number of strangers I can talk to
while tripping on my stuttering words

I can only deal with five
five is plenty, five is whole

five is repeating things four times
which is only a third of my pair of ones

six is too many people at one table
seven isn't perfect for a corner booth

eight is a round number
and it's a sideways infinity symbol

eight was my number
and I could do anything, so long as I was eight

nine is a nightmarish numeral
never complete

so I avoid nine
and say "nein" when offered nine lives

ten is a number that is the epitome of perfection
it is the most perfect numeral you will ever see

because if you have ten, you can have twenty
thirty, fourty, fifty, up into the hundreds

thousands, millions, billions
thanks to that one ten

but even tens are made of ones.
ones make tens.

so I suppose they were right
when they said everything starts

with one.