Sterne // TRIGONOMETRY

What used to be a
Time table stuck to my desk
Stained with glitter from
The last art project

Is now replaced with
With complicated relationships
Between the opposite and
The adjacent

The progression, to me,
Seemed so significant

My mind
Now able to grasp complex
Ideas that once resembled
abstract art

But,
when you tell me
That degrees are considered
Amataur and inferior
To the more esteemed
radian notation

And I will seldom
Use it beyond
The perfectly curated curriculum
That is my high school
Math class

The worksheets,
That once validated
My change over time
Suddenly are what
Make me small

But, your words
Left your lips without
A second thought

As any one
With a PhD from MIT
Knows that

There is always someone
Smarter,
more efficient
More willing, and
More accomplished

And no one has
Any sympathy
For your shortcomings
As they belong
Only to your failure.