Public Image of a Mathematician

From John Dawson -- a professor emeritus of mathematics at the Penn State York campus and well-known for his publications in mathematical logic, often focusing on the life and work of Kurt Godel -- a poem on a topic that this blog visits from time to time, portraits of mathematicians.

       Public Image     by John W. Dawson, Jr.

       Please,
       I'm not an accountant.
       No,
       Mine doesn't always balance either.
       What do I do then?
       Well,
       On good days
       I prove theorems; 
       And then,
       I also teach.
       What's that you say?
       An easy job?  A sinecure?
       Well, tell me then,
       Why didn't you . . . ?
       Oh, I see.
       You always hated it.
       Lots of people do.
       It's so hard.
       Too precise.
       All that calculation.
       And you became so terribly nervous
       Speaking in front of a class.
       Then too
       The pay is low.
       But perhaps that's as it should be.
       After all,
       Think of the prestige!

Dawson's poem first appeared in The Mathematical Intelligencer 12: 1 (1990), 13.
A poem of mine, similar in spirit to Dawson's is found here.  Other poems about mathematicians may be found at these links:  28 January 2011  and, in 2010:  December 8, April 14, April 15, April 26, April 28, May 4, May 14, and  July 20.