The math of everyday life . . .

     Back in the 90's when I participated in several poetry workshops at Pennsylvania's Bucknell University, one of my fellow-students was Declan Synott and here -- found on Facebook -- is one of his poems, a mathy poem.

   Plowing     by Declan Synott

        In Brush Valley, near Rebersburg,
        a four-mule team pulls the furrow,
        and a 15 year old Amish boy stands atop the plow.
        He is part of the leather harness,
        leads to each animal.
        It’s a controlled chore. Methodical and mathematical.
        If you were to do the math, you’d know
        that it will take 38 passes,
        east to west, west to east to till this pasture.
        The job requires all of the morning
        and a good part of the afternoon.
        He swings at a horsefly’s bite, aligns his shoulders
        and keeps the animals moving.
        The soil breaks fresh, a dark rich brown,
        a dust plume in his wake.