A Poet of Math
A muse of numbers
Figures and symbols that
have meaning for a select crowd
Striking phobia chords in others
Subject to interpretation
see in it what you want to see
But in math
you need proof
Elegance in the algorithm
the Everests are in the theorems
and the peaks sometimes elusive
Unreachable.
A stanza of comfort
when all the columns add up
all the symbols make sense and
you feel as if you touched infinity.
Why in the incalculable meanderings
of this world did the lines intersect
in such a way that
made a problem unsolvable?
We scratch our heads
get out the erasers
try to do it better, make the corrections
and pray we get it right this time.
I dedicate this to a fine math professor Robert Whitton. His life and talents changed the lives of many. A car struck him on a dark and rainy evening. He passed away on Friday. He will be missed.
Be careful out there. I mean it.