58008

58008

In high school math, we learned
that there is something called
an imaginary number. I eyeballed
the lower-case i on the board, turned

it into a 1 by squinting. Aren’t all
numbers imaginary, like any marks
we scuff slates with. We know sharks
by one piece of their bodies, a small

fin poking through the ocean like a tooth.
A thing is real if you can touch it or
use it in a sentence or draw it for
your fridge. You can calculate truth,

math says. Type 58008 into your TI-83.
Turn it upside down for your friend to see.