Held late in July, this year's 2011 Bridges (Math-Arts) Conference in Coimbra, Portugal included a poetry reading for which I'd been invited to read but was, at the last minute, unable to attend. (See also 26 July 2011). Poets Sarah Glaz and Emily Grosholz each, however, read favorite selections from my work. Glaz read one of my square poems, "The Bear Cave" (see 19 June 2011) and Grosholz read the poem shown below, "Can a Mathematician See Red?"
Can a Mathematician See Red? by JoAnne Growney
Consider the sphere —
a hollow rounded surface
whose outside points
are the very same points
insiders see.
If red paint spills
all over the outside,
is the inside red?
The mathematician says, No,
the layer of paint
forms a new sphere
that is outside the outside
and not a bit inside.
A mathematician
sees the world
as she defines it.
A poet
sees red
inside.
"Can a Mathematician See Red?" is found in my 2010 collection, Red Has No Reason (Plain View Press).
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