22 July 2026

Mathematics!?

 


~ counting, measuring, 
AND FIGURING ~

Source

What adds up?  What circles or squares?  What multiplies?  or subtracts?  or divides?  What parallels?  What symmetry or lack of it shapes the world?  What's the mathematics of awe?

Today's prompt: Use mathematical terms and images to poeticize an aspect of life or experience.

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EXAMPLES

Up till now,
the math of my life
has been pretty simple:
friends
plus family
plus sports.
What more
could I ask for, right?
But lately,
my outside has been changing
and my inside keeps telling me
more is on the way.
Trouble is,
I'm not sure
I'm ready.

The Tyger

Tyger Tyger, burning bright, 
In the forests of the night; 
What immortal hand or eye, 
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies. 
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand, dare seize the fire?
. . . . 
(Read the rest HERE.)


I like the generosity of numbers.
The way, for example,
they are willing to count
anything or anyone:
two pickles, one door to the room,
eight dancers dressed as swans.

I like the domesticity of addition—
add two cups of milk and stir—
the sense of plenty: six plums
on the ground, three more
falling from the tree.
. . . . 
(Read the rest HERE.)

Arithmetic
by Carl Sandburg

Next
 

Arithmetic is where numbers fly like pigeons in and out of your head.
Arithmetic tells you how many you lose or win if you know how many
    you had before you lost or won.
Arithmetic is seven eleven all good children go to heaven--
    or five six bundle of sticks.
Arithmetic is numbers you squeeze from your head to your hand
        to your pencil to your paper till you get the answer.

. . . . 

(Read the rest HERE.) 

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Please link one poem that is your response to this prompt.  
After you link your poem, please visit others,
and
Don't forget to include this link in your post.