For social connections, it is desirable not to be pegged as a member of an outcast group. And thus a mathematician is likely to have at least two selves -- one who lives in the world of mathematics and another separate social self that negotiates that rest-of-the-world where many fear and shun mathematics. I found a situation somewhat similar when I studied at Hunter College in Manhattan: I needed a separate self who negotiated the city. The problem-solving farm girl who knew small towns well and big cities slightly seemed better equipped to adapt to city conversations than her fellow students could chat about anything west of the Hudson. How many hundred miles must you drive to get to Pennsylvania? they wondered. (The Delaware River boundary of PA is about 75 miles west of the George Washington Bridge.)
In this vein, I present a poem that focuses on the country vs city divide -- and it involves a square look and a number.
Green Market, New York by Julia Spicher Kasdorf
Showing posts with label Hunter College. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hunter College. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Friday, October 26, 2012
Geometry of Trees
Donna Masini, one of my poetry teachers at Hunter College, offered this rule of thumb for use of a particular word in a poem: the word should serve the poem in (at least) two ways -- in meaning and sound, or sound and motion, or motion and image, or . .. .
Richard Wilbur (1921 - ) is a former US Poet Laureate (1987-88), a prolific translator, and one of my favorite poets -- and perhaps this is because he seems to maximize his word-choices with multiple uses. When I read Wilbur, I see and hear and feel -- and, after multiple readings, these sensory impressions coalesce into understanding. Here is one of his sonnets, a poem of the geometry of absence:
Richard Wilbur (1921 - ) is a former US Poet Laureate (1987-88), a prolific translator, and one of my favorite poets -- and perhaps this is because he seems to maximize his word-choices with multiple uses. When I read Wilbur, I see and hear and feel -- and, after multiple readings, these sensory impressions coalesce into understanding. Here is one of his sonnets, a poem of the geometry of absence:
Labels:
Donna Masini,
Geometries,
Hunter College,
lines,
multiple meanings,
parallel,
Richard Wilbur,
sonnet,
square
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)