Complement and Compliment -- and Geometry

     Poetry's special effects often come from the multiple meanings of terms used -- and today I offer  a snip of a mathy item that I enjoyed and that  plays with meaning -- an item I found a few days ago (September 19) on X (Twitter), 

A posting by California math teacher Howie Hua

And, looking back for geometry in earlier postings, here is a link to a prose poem posted in February, 2017 -- "The Geometry of Poetry" by Janet R. Kirchenheimer.   Still another geometry reading opportunity is the baseball poem "Our Ballpark" by Le Hinton (sampled in this 2015 posting).

September Brings THE BLOOMSBURG FAIR

     During the past weekend, long-time friends in Pennsylvania have reminded me that this is the week of The Bloomsburg Fair -- an annual event held in Bloomsburg, PA (where I lived with my family and taught mathematics at Bloomsburg University for a bunch of years).  Public schools in Bloomsburg started their fall classes a week early so that students could have vacation-time during Fair Week -- held near the end of September.  The fair brings farmers and gardeners and cooks and other creative country folk together to show their products and it was easy for me to get involved since I lived just a few blocks from the Bloomsburg Fairground.  Moreover, Pennsylvania county fairs were familiar to me from my childhood.  I grew up on a farm near Indiana, PA  -- home of the Indiana County Fair, in which my father participated by exhibiting crops and animals and which I attended to enjoy Ferris-wheel rides and other carnival entertainments.

     One of my celebrations of this fondly-remembered Bloomsburg event was to write a poem entitled "The Bloomsburg Fair," a poem with bits of math.  Here is one of its stanzas.

Midlife Calculus -- poems by Britt Kaufmann

     Today's featured poet, Britt Kaufmann, is not only a writer but also a graphic designer, a playwright, and "a lifelong reader and learner."  And a math tutor!  Out this month (from Press 53) is her mathy collection, Midlife Calculus -- a thoughtful and  fun-to-read collection that links math ideas to a variety of life's experiences.  

     Last February, I was introduced to Kaufmann's work when her book-title-poem, "Midlife Calculus," appeared in Scientific American.  I was delighted to also find her poem,  "Z-score of Zero" here in the April-May edition of MAA Focus and I was drawn to include it in this April, 2024 blog-posting.  Visit and enjoy!

     Midlife Calculus is available here.  And below are a couple of samples:    

Playing Hopscotch . . . and Counting . . .

      Growing up on a Pennsylvania farm gave me lots of opportunities to use mathematics -- counting sheep, choosing patterns for planting, and many kitchen tasks.  I also enjoyed occasional times to join friends at in-town playgrounds and, on their paved areas, hopscotch was one of our arithmetical and geometrical activities.  Recently I came across a wonderful online collection of poems by Maya Angelou (1928 - 2014) -- and, within it, this slightly mathy poem that includes hopscotch and also speaks of racial injustice:  

     Harlem Hopscotch    by Maya Angelou

     One foot down, then hop! It's hot.
     Good things for the ones that's got.
     Another jump, now to the left.
     Everybody for hisself.  

Favorite Number -- a Baker's Dozen

      Among my favorite emails are those that come from Innisfree, an online journal (at this link) edited by poet Greg McBride, with new issues emerging each six months.  A wonderful discovery in the most recent issue is the mathy poem "Lagniappe" by Michigan poet Lynn Domina.  

    Domina's poem relates to some of my delightful childhood experiences:  I often was asked to help a great aunt with her shopping  and, for both of us, one of our favorite stops was a family-owned bakery which supplied an extra pastry to any dozen purchased -- in case one of the dozen was a bit small or otherwise inferior -- and my aunt always rewarded me with the extra.  Today, no pastries -- but a great poem; read on:

math talk -- a way to learn

EXPLORE MATHEMATICS BY TALKING ABOUT IT!

      math talk: mathematical ideas in poems for two voices is the title of a 1991 poetry collection (Wide World Publishing, available here) by theoni pappas, a long-time teacher of mathematics and  author of  many books that help to popularize mathematics.  Here are the opening lines of her poem-for-two-voices, "Zero," -- found on page 23 of her math-talk collection.