Nothing is not zero

Who decided that the number zero was an appropriate constant?
If I have three apples on my plate, there are three apples there.
Take three away, and there is simply nothing.  Not zero, just space.

We have based our maths, and our knowledge of mass,
On the supposition of something which truly lacks.
Nothing is not zero, zero is not anything.  Zero has been made by man.

It strikes me as arrogant that we seek to explain every single phenomenon
Based on a system which we alone have devised
To explain a very small part of what we can hardly see.