Zeroes, I don’t trust them
Add them and they make large bigger
Divide by them and you pierce infinity
At least the lower ranks
But let them out on the loose
They will attack anything
Media, mediums, children
Tell them they’re valued
They run away
Say that they’re worthless
They harass all your numbers
Smoothly and so savagely
Many never return
But you can control them
Not packing in ice or lining by threes
Just slam them against a decimal –
One lone dot
They cower and snap to attention
Stay in place and stop fooling around
My personal zeroes are now quite tame
I use them as placeholders at parties
For coding and meetings, especially officials
But work best with law and medical students
Threaten them with a single zero
They’ll do whatever you ask
Zeroes were never about nothing and
Rarely come to naught
They’re useful for every job and home
Will slave for you once they see the point
Just like that.