Once upon a time there was a number
Pure and round like the sun
But lonely very lonely
It started to calculate by itself
It divided multiplied
Subtracted and added itself
But remained always alone
It stopped calculating
And shut itself away
In its rounded sunlit innocence
The glowing tracks of its calculations
Stayed outside
They began to hunt each other in the dark
To divide themselves without multiplying
To subtract themselves while adding
That's the way it goes in the dark
No one was left to plead to it
To call back its tracks
And rub them out
-Vasko Popa
