Ohio poet Cathryn Essinger has a twin brother who is a mathematician -- and links to mathematics sometimes appear in her poetry. Here are the opening lines of a poem I especially enjoy -- the complete poem appeared in Poetry Magazine in 2002 and is available online here.
My Dog Practices Geometry by Cathryn Essinger
I do not understand the poets who tell me
that I should not personify. Every morning
the willow auditions for a new role
outside my bedroom window—today she is
Clytemnestra; yesterday a Southern Belle,
lost in her own melodrama, sinking on her skirts.
Nor do I like the mathematicians who tell me
I cannot say, "The zinnias are counting on their
fingers," or "The dog is practicing her geometry,"
even though every day I watch her using
the yard's big maple as the apex of a triangle
from which she bisects the circumference
. . . To continue reading, follow this link.
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