Non-poets often wonder about the use of patterns in poems -- does following a set of constraints help of hinder the process? For me, often -- though not always -- constraints push me to discovery. Below I offer a triangular poem by Washington, DC poet E. Laura Golberg which I re-found recently in the Journal of Humanistic Mathematics (JHM); Golberg's poem remembers the costs of war.
Pension Building, Washington, DC by E. Laura Golberg
A
dis-
play
of the
normal
curve can
be found in
old buildings
where feet have
rubbed away the
middle of stair steps.
Here, wounded Union
veterans pulling one foot
over the new marble, wore
off atoms. Men with crutches
placed them firmly at an angle.
Their boots scuffed the stairs.
Those who had been refused
pensions descended, while
dragging feet. Today, the
building, with its pillars
and open space is used
as a museum. Balls
may be held here;
hems of formal
gowns weep
down the
stairs.
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