It began in first grade,
all of us staring up
at the alphabet, named
after its first two letters, Aa and Bb,
unlike arithmetic, not named
after its first two numbers
(putting zero aside)
or music, not known as AA sharp,
which is also why
we humans are not known
as AdamEves or EveAdams,
depending on the genetic coin toss—
heads, you’re the one waiting
for tails, the waiter,
or vice versa or even versa vice
depending on
the altitude of the coin
and direction of the wind
on that fateful day
back when calculus was only a baby.