Upon Learning The Death Of A Dedicated Algebra Teacher Poem by RIC BASTASA

the obituary reads that mr. cruz
my algebra teacher in college
died the other day
i am saddened
and my mind travels back
in time when he taught
us how to find the x's
in relation to the given y's
that a value assigned to
some givens can lead me
to find an unknown
with the simple way
of finding the right
connection

it is all in the mind
and soon you will find
the solution
to a given problem
he once lectured it

bedridden for years
he always lived a very
simple life
(poverty
the poor professor
thriving on a meager
income from the
university supporting
his children to earn
a college degree)

and now that he died
my classmate who
becomes a practitioner
of medicine and earning
her big bucks for her
living says

'i have pity for him'

she is correct,
but from far

i am saying too my prayers
for him
that his soul may rest in peace
as he was restless
once with the odd numbers
mostly they are not even.