Last week (on November 6) I was invited to read some of my poems at the River Poets reading in Bloomsburg, PA (where I lived and taught for a bunch of years). Among the friends that I had a chance to greet were Susan and Richard Brook -- and, from them, received this mathy poem by Pullitzer-Prize-winning-poet Vijay Seshadri.
Imaginary Number by Vijay Seshadri
The mountain that remains when the universe is destroyed
is not big and is not small.
Big and small are
comparative categories, and to what
could the mountain that remains when the universe is destroyed
be compared?
Showing posts with label River Poets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label River Poets. Show all posts
Friday, November 14, 2014
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Is Math for Women?
At a River Poets reading at the public library in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania on December 1, 2011, Carol Ann Heckman surprised me with her poem, "The Calculus Road Not Taken," presented below. Not only is she a fine poet, but Carol Ann is curious about mathematics. As a college student she was turned away by negative feedback from a math professor. But now she is reassessing her situation and ready to tackle calculus. Here she has fun with her calculus-deprived situation in lively verse:
The Calculus Road Not Taken by Carol Ann Heckman
for JoAnne Growney
If I had only conquered
calculus
this wouldn't have
happened--the flood,
the earthquake, the
two hurricanes
in succession
The Calculus Road Not Taken by Carol Ann Heckman
for JoAnne Growney
If I had only conquered
calculus
this wouldn't have
happened--the flood,
the earthquake, the
two hurricanes
in succession
Labels:
calculus,
Carol Ann Heckman,
function,
optimum,
poem,
River Poets,
women
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