An explanatory variable has a response and
The space
Before response is deemed
Freedom,
Sought by degrees:
More time to reflect
If randomness is
Uniform, if correlation is
Causal, chance, or complexity yet
Unnamed.

In the space
To scan
What’s there, what else
Could be: mediator or moderator
Variable.
Not bearing burden of being
Certain, we seek habit
To inhabit uncertainty –
To describe, not deny –
And fail to reject.

Conducting a study of one
Being present in the moment,
Not lost in time series,
Letting noise and outliers pass,
Centered in breath,
Eyes shut to better see our mode
Beyond expectation,
Sitting in the lotus,
No longer standing for
Law Of The Unconscious Statistician.

© 2018 Lawrence M. Lesser, reprinted with permission