One of the most vital components of the Washington DC poetry scene is Split This Rock -- an organization that speaks and acts against injustice. (Co-founder and Executive Director, Sarah Browning, is a long-time activist and a fine poet.) One of STR's 2016 programs has been Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here DC 2016, a book arts and cultural festival that commemorates the 2007 bombing of Baghdad’s historic bookselling street, and emphasizes free exchange of ideas and knowledge, in solidarity with the people of Iraq. Several weeks ago at one of these events I met poet Dunya Mikhail and her translator, Kareem James Abu-Zeid, and was involved in discussion and reading from The Iraqi Nights (New Directions, 2015). Here is a mathy poem from that collection.
The Shape of the World by Dunya Mikhail
translated from the Arabic by Kareem James Abu-Zeid)
If the world were flat
like a flying carpet,
our sorrow would have a beginning
and an end.
If the world were square,
we'd lie low in a corner
whenever the war
plays hide and seek.
If the world were round,
our dreams would take turns
on the Ferris wheel,
and we'd all be equal.
A link to the Arabic original version of this poem is shown at the bottom of Mikhail's webpage -- a link that also offers a recording of her reading this poem, set to music.
And please note that coming up soon is the 2016 Split This Rock Poetry Festival (April 14-17, 2016) with many excellent workshops and readings. Learn about it here and register (online registration closes March 31). See you there.
Showing posts with label shape. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shape. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Saturday, December 20, 2014
The Girl Who Loved Triangles
I found this poem by Michigan poet Jackie Bartley when I was browsing old issues of albatross (edited by Richard Smyth) and she has give me permission to post it here. Like Guillevic (see, for example, this earlier post), Bartley has found personalities in geometric figures.
To the Girl Who Loved Triangles by Jackie Bartley
Triangulation: Technique for establishing the distance between two points
using a triangle with at least one side of known length.
One girl in a friend's preschool class
loves the triangle. Tanya's favorite shape,
the children call it. Simple, three sided, at least
one slope inherent, slip-slide down
in the playground of mind. Tension and its
release. Sure balance, solid as the pyramids. The
To the Girl Who Loved Triangles by Jackie Bartley
Triangulation: Technique for establishing the distance between two points
using a triangle with at least one side of known length.
One girl in a friend's preschool class
loves the triangle. Tanya's favorite shape,
the children call it. Simple, three sided, at least
one slope inherent, slip-slide down
in the playground of mind. Tension and its
release. Sure balance, solid as the pyramids. The
Labels:
axiom,
Guillevic,
Jackie Bartley,
mathematics,
measure,
poetry,
pyramid,
Richard Smyth,
shape,
square,
three,
triangle
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
In Praise of Fractals
Philosopher Emily Grosholz is also a poet -- a poet who often writes of mathematics. Tessellations Publishing has recently (2014) published her collection Proportions of the Heart: Poems that Play with Mathematics (with illustrations by Robert Fathauer) and she has given me permission to present one of the fine poems from that collection.
In Praise of Fractals by Emily Grosholz
Variations on the Introduction to
The Fractal Geometry of Nature by Benoit Mandelbrot
(New York: W. H. Freeman and Company, 1983)
Euclid’s geometry cannot describe,
nor Apollonius’, the shape of mountains,
puddles, clouds, peninsulas or trees.
Clouds are never spheres,
In Praise of Fractals by Emily Grosholz
Variations on the Introduction to
The Fractal Geometry of Nature by Benoit Mandelbrot
(New York: W. H. Freeman and Company, 1983)
Euclid’s geometry cannot describe,
nor Apollonius’, the shape of mountains,
puddles, clouds, peninsulas or trees.
Clouds are never spheres,
Labels:
curve,
Emily Grosholz,
Euclid,
fractal,
geometry,
Mandelbrot,
mathematical,
poetry,
Robert Fathauer,
shape
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Dimensions of a soul
In the poem below, Young Smith uses carefully precise terms of Euclidean geometry to create a vivid interior portrait.
She Considers the Dimensions of Her Soul by Young Smith
The shape of her soul is a square.
She knows this to be the case
because she often feels its corners
pressing sharp against the bone
just under her shoulder blades
and across the wings of her hips.
She Considers the Dimensions of Her Soul by Young Smith
The shape of her soul is a square.
She knows this to be the case
because she often feels its corners
pressing sharp against the bone
just under her shoulder blades
and across the wings of her hips.
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Geometry of distance
Some of the poems herein arrive as gifts from friends. Today's poem came via e-mail from Susan (a Californian whom I have gotten to know when she visits my neighbor, Priscilla). Susan got it from Larry Robinson who connected me with the poet, Richard Retecki, for permission to post it here.
As has been said in other contexts, It takes a village . . .
Thanks to you all!
ascension by Richard Retecki
for Jonathan Glass
the geometry
of distance annoys
is unfilled
As has been said in other contexts, It takes a village . . .
Thanks to you all!
for Jonathan Glass
the geometry
of distance annoys
is unfilled
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