Monday, June 25, 2007
Mathe-Manic Monday
No clever or insightful lead-in this week. I'm just too tired! But here's another egghead poem of mine. In high school, when I was deep into algebra, geometry, and trig classes, I did actually dream in mathematical symbols and equations, which was very freaky. My writing instructor told me that one day, this would be plastered on the doors of mathematics departments everywhere, but that day hasn't arrived yet.
Mathe-Manic Dreams
Triangle burns
with abstraction keen,
grappling with theory
and searching for mean.
Add me to tangent,
divide me by pi--
must be obtuse,
'cause I can't figure why
all these symbols are people
and functions, relations.
What's the solution
to all these equations?
Wake with a start,
wipe the drool from my desk--
yawn and keep cramming
for algebra test.
© 2003 Robin L. Rotham
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22 comments:
Okay, you almost made math beautiful. Almost. BUT I FREAKING HATE MATH! HATE IT! :)
i LOVE this:
Add me to tangent,
divide me by pi--
must be obtuse,
'cause I can't figure why
and that's saying something because i'm a total math dweeb. Typical artist that can't juggle equations. bleh. But this poem is terrific Robin!
i just noticed you've put short cut links to your poems in your nav - i LIKE! must steal idea...
This is beautiful!!! Even math can be poetic - never thought of it that way!! =) Great job, Robin! Loved it.
I'm very tired and starting to fret about nationals now. I'll keep my mind busy in the meantime, lol.
LOL! Almost?!?! And why am I not surprised that you hate math, Shelli?
Same for you, Rhi. That's really why I write poetry -- to make math (and toilets) more interesting to girls like you. :D
Oh Red, you're tired, too? Hey, don't fret about National -- it's going to be A BLAST!!! It's exhausting, but in a really positive way. :D
Actually, I related to this stanza:
Wake with a start,
wipe the drool from my desk--
yawn and keep cramming
for algebra test.
My teacher told my mother he thought I was doing drugs because my eyes were always glazed over in his class. Little did he know he was simply boring the pants off me.
(Another non-Math fan).
"grappling with theory
and searching for mean"
Love that! I've always found it fascinating that the ancient philosophers were usually mathmeticians. I'm a language person and words speak to me, but I can see where math symbolism can go even farther.
LOL, Lisa -- I imagine a lot of people can relate to that aspect. I wasn't exactly excited by the math myself, though the deeper I got into it, the more fascinating I found it.
Julia, my affinity for math shows up in a tendency to want a set formula for my writing. It's very frustrating that I can't find one. :D
Fun poem. Mathematical symbols in your dreams? Very interesting. Imagine the character you could build who dreams in tangents and cosines.
LOL, Diana! Yes, I can see some Einstein-like hero madly scribbling on a blackboard, trying to quantify a woman and his relationship to her. Talk about an exercise in futility!
i guess you've seen enough of my stuff by now to know that i love this kind of word play--when the multiple meanings of words and thier connotations can apply within the context without mangling meaning while potentially enhancing it.
this was fun as well as thought provoking.
thanx for visiting my Sounding Central Truth. your exhuberent comment is still sounding in the echochamber of my ego.
That was by far the best mathematical poem EVER. I love math, and you made me smile and think fondly of algebra, calculus, and trig!
i giggled at the last stanza........
I married the Tour Manager so I wouldn't have to do math anymore. But guess what? I got this poem (which is extraordinary since I never took trig) and really liked it!
Really good meter in it, Robin.
Cool poem (I was a math geek until college). Reading the comments reminded me of reading that Mozart as a child would draw quadratic equations on his bedroom walls.
Oh that was fun! Can you do one for calculus too??
Indeed, Joy. You know, the funny thing is, the hidden meanings often don't even occur to me until I read over what I've written a few times. My muse is much cleverer than I am. :D
Thank you, Jen! I actually remember my math classes fondly, for the most part. The math and science teachers were generally the funniest, at least at my high school -- and definitely the coolest in college. I took college algebra for some blow-off credits, and when I explained it to Dr. Monk (yes, his real name), he handed me a list of test dates and said he didn't care if those were the only times he saw me. All instructors should be so understanding.
Wouldn't it be interesting, Ann, to see how musicians' mathematical aptitudes compare to the general population's? It's my understanding there's a correlation, or at least the theory of a correlation, between musical and mathematical aptitudes.
Darn it, Seeley, I never took calculus -- it conflicted with one of my music classes on the schedule. (grin) I really would like to take it one day, though I'd like even more to take a physics class.
You sure made math sounds great... but I'm still not convince. ;)
Very cool, Robin!
And btw, you've been tagged to list eight things about yourself!
http://paigetylertheauthor.blogspot.com/
*hugs*
Paige
i'm back. i got tagged and well, you were high on my list of someone whose response to this one I would love to see...so: http://joystory.blogspot.com/2007/06/i-was-tagged-by-adelle.html
it's no worse than a TT. swear. please don't send me math homework as revenge.
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