California poet Carol Dorf is a semi-retired secondary school mathematics teacher who is an important force in poetry. Not only a fine poet, Carol also is Poetry Editor of TalkingWriting, an online journal that sometimes features mathy poems. It has been my pleasure to meet Carol and to read with her on several occasions, most recently at the 2017 Bridges Conference in Waterloo, Ontario. The following poem is one that Carol read at Bridges 2018 and it is included in the Bridges Stockholm 2018 Poetry Anthology; it is a thoughtful reflection on the way that time -- and precision in its measurement -- varies in our lives.
Announce the Hour You Have Clocks For by Carol Dorf
Time progresses through the bells
announcing each moment of occupation:
toilet, wash, dress, eat, work a, break, work b . . .
eat, undress, wash, toilet.
Schematic, yes. Our clocks' precision
increases until the second,
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