I sit as straight as I can,

As if the more my back

Resembles a line,

The more I’ll understand

Linear algebra.

My eyes balance

Looking at the board

And guiding my hand taking notes

Trying to save as much as I can

For a second digestion.

When the teacher stops for a moment

My brain zips into action

Filling the gaps in the logic

Grappling about how two analogous puzzle pieces

Can fit together

My brain longs for the class to the end

While my mind insists

That there is nothing better in the world

Than the satisfaction

Of finally making sense

Of the math

Not well enough to nail the homework

But well enough to leave a silhouette in my head

Waiting for the light of epiphany to fill it in.