AMS Math Poetry Contest

Zero: The Solution of Silence

Annabelle Chen

Live Oak Academy

Honorable Mention · 2026 · Middle School Division

Poem text

A stillness pulsing between the lines,

A standstill, eighth-rest, one-of a kind—

She's that misfit, she's that silence,

Zero's the void that echoes defiance.

To our world of chaos, scribbles, and noise,

Her quiet's not restful— it only annoys.

Like the gap of silence, she has no value,

But to find your X, she's the only clue.

In the grids of tangled relationships,

Equations, enemies, and tangled scripts,

If only you'd factor and set it to zero,

Then maybe they'd see you as the hero.

If only you'd listen and pause to reset,

Then maybe you'd find that solution set.

'Cause when everything screams for your time, your name,

When everyone begs for attention and fame,

When every heart yearns for wealth and position,

Everybody hears, and yet none will listen.

So to find that solution and open that window,

Try a listening hush, or a silent zero.