Charlie's Tutor

He was terrible at long division
He was, perhaps
The worst student
I have ever tutored
In long division

I wasn't even aware
Someone could be that bad
In long division

I mean, it's long division
Yes, it's not normal division
It is, somewhat more complicated
Than your average division
But nevertheless, it is not rocket science

I should know
I ended up becoming
A rocket scientist
Later in life

By the way, twenty years after tutoring Charlie
The lab I was working in
Exploded
And the government sent my family a bouquet of flowers
And a letter
Telling them that I died
In a 'field accident'

This is how stupid my family is
They bought it

I was a rocket scientist!

What would I be doing in a field?
In any kind of field?
And what sort of accidents happen
In fields?

It just goes to show you
How terrified they were
Of actually understanding
What it was
Their daughter
Did for a living

Charlie was, believe it or not
What was on my mind
The day the lab exploded

Perhaps he was the reason
I wasn't paying attention
When I added the wrong chemical
To the beaker on the burner

It's because I looked over at the chalkboard
That we kept in the lab
And someone had drawn a long division problem on it

The simplest problem

Written across the board
In big, loopy writing

You know, I'm dead now
But it still doesn't make me omniscient

I don't know who wrote that long division problem
But it was...

Really beautiful

Nice and simple

I forgot how beautiful
Those problems could be

I'd imagine it's like becoming a chef
Learning to make a souffle
Then walking by a bakery window
And seeing the perfect cupcake

It's a cupcake
You can do it in your sleep
But in a way
It's like an old friend
And because of that
It seems more beautiful
Than even the tastiest souffle

That's what I thought of
When I saw the long division problem
Stretched out across the chalkboard

And I thought of Charlie
Who I failed

I could never make him see it
The beauty that can be found in complexity

Or how one girl's 'walk in the park' math problem
Can be another boy's educational downfall

Despite my efforts
Charlie flunked math
And continued to do poorly in the subject
Throughout high school
Having to go to summer school once
For Algebra 2

I looked at that math problem
And remembered Charlie
The only time in my life
I've ever come up short

And then shortly after that
My life was over

In some ways, I guess you could say
Charlie killed me

But those ways would be completely illogical
And I'm nothing if not logical

The funny thing about that problem
On the chalkboard?

It was solved

I could see that the numbers checked out
And the work was all there

I died the same day Charlie did

And part of me thinks
Maybe that was him writing on the board
To let me know
He finally understood

Maybe he wanted me to see
That he finally saw the beauty
Of long division