‘Prove Pythagoras’ said the maths book. “Prove he what?” said my son with a look “was an idiot – needed a life – should have taken it out on his wife?” For if there’s a conceivable use for the square on the hypotenuse and the relationship it enjoys with the squares on the other two sides then I’d be very deeply obliged if you’d show it to me so that I’d have a reason for racking my brain and for driving myself half insane to prove c-squared is a-squared plus b squared when it’s pretty obvious to me that the squares who this crap understand have too much **** ing time on their hands. In a world where attention in school has an inverse relation to cool contemplation of wormy old Greeks can prove only that you are a geek. So, to end, the aforementioned ‘proof’ may be whistled for and , in all truth, the aforementioned Pythagoras can just kiss my isosceles ass. Q.E.D. |
Comments?
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awesome!
i guess you didn't have good time with your maths book!
same here.i must confess i envey your style..it is deliciously beautiful...free flow....with a nice rythm.
now you prove am i telling the truth or lie?( my sense of humor is upto this level only)
nicely written.
keep delighting us.
jyotishman. Rewarded 4
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awesome!
i guess you didn't have good time with your maths book!
same here.i must confess i envey your style..it is deliciously beautiful...free flow....with a nice rythm.
the msg is deliverd with an ease.no hussles.
now you prove am i telling the truth or lie?( my sense of humor is upto this level only)
nicely written.
keep delighting us.
jyotishman. Rewarded 4
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Thank you Maikhana
Your comment is too kind but very much appreciated. W.
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HAHAHAHA !!!
This piece is wonderful and hilarious !!!
I love every bit of it .
Maths not my forte too , i dislike it very much , but what can i do , its a very important part of my "student life" , oh well !!! This piece certainly boosted my morale though . thnx a ton !!!
~~~Abhi~~~. Rewarded 4
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clever
yeah, math sucks.
dave -
isosceles?
Although written with a slant
that leaves me rather askew,
this is a very clever poem.
From academic point of view,
inviting nimble minds to roam
with sense of humour to rant.
Lines 5 to 12, the inexorable logic of Math in its many forms DOES have a purpose that comes from persistence to the point of winning. Not giving up when things are tough, staying with it, knowing that often in simplicity, the evasive solution hides. Suddenly seeing it is a feeling that is sweet, and to see it without being told, is a victory.
Applications of that are many, which serve us well the rest of our lives, having discovered that its possibilities are transferable to many other situations and problems, not the least of which is a kind of independence that clears the eyes and holds the head high.
Lines 13 to 16 are possibly true, but hey, others watch hours of sports, or do crosswords... Whatever.
Inverse relation to cool? Great!
An isosceles triangle would not necessarily work here. The two equal sides often do not have a right angle between them--and only when they do would the squared hypotenuse fit the two equal squares within...without overflowing, and I guess that makes me a geek. I guess it goes with my terrytory too. (The only high school math I did not "take" was differential calculus. I had nine "papers", several sciences and 3 languages... and (take a deep breath,) enjoyed many more like them through university. No, not even a little bit cool. That matters?
This is almost all about content this time, because there was so little more to say about form. Obviously successful.
Quod erat demonstrandum indeed!
Exit stage left.
Terry
. Rewarded 4
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Go to the top of the class Terry..
..but I'm afraid you're sitting with the geeks at break-time! (lol) Of course , like almost anything , maths can make a good metaphor for life - but try convincing a teenager of that! I burned my English books with the rest of them - then went back to the bookstore and bought them (second-hand) when I was 30.Amazing what seeps through! I rather liked my use of 'isosceles' by the way - also by the way it described my son's ass (reported statement here) not his triangles! Fun doing this with you as always Terry! -
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"break time"
It was my choice, no kidding, and a privilege to be among them. The high that I described on understanding something that had eluded was real, and the rare victory, amazing. Perhaps I should clarify. It was far from a brainiac thing. Some years later when a friend was in the doctoral program in psychology and she needed subjects to take the big WISC test, I found why I struggled to get near 75 on math exams. I am on the twentieth percentile in mathematical aptitude. Translated, it means 80% of the human race has more math ability than I do. Yet I passed them all, every year, because it was the only way to get the sciences. Made up for it in other areas, but it proves what a stubborn cuss I had to be. Still am. It has served me well.
Just thought it needed to be straightened out that really, anyone can, with the help of good teachers. I know about teenagers, had four. Only one of them got into math in a big way. Isosceles, bilaterally equal--got it.
There now, I feel better. It was a great poem!
Terry
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A nice poem...
was a nice poem really...but i somehow feel that line 18 brings in a different rhythm that dosen't go with the rhythm that you started the poem with...overall, the poem was great...really fresh and different...very different from the other poems..and a very good theme too...only try working a little more on using a little more dreamy words that words which show literal meaning-for eg.attention etc. also notice that the last verse follows a differebt rhyming pattern than all other verses...that shouldn't happen -
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Thank you so much for reading and commenting. I don't often write rhyme and meter but when I DO establish a beat I make every effort to stay true to it. It's supposed to be funny more than dreamy which is why I chose this form and I promise you that with an adjustment to stress here and there it can be recited in perfect time with matching syllable counts. But reading is not hearing as I well understand and I'm sorry it didn't scan for you. Try extending the 'a' sound in the last 'Pythogo-ras' and making sure you put 4 syllables into 'isosceles'.Does that help? Hope so. Thanks again.
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funny
I am in college now studying math and computer science, so, obviously, I am one of the "geeks" mentioned in your poem, but I do find myself sometimse thinking these same types of thoughts about "what good is this crap?" Funny, though.. Rewarded 4
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Thanks for the comment Derek . I should point out that the poem is written as 'reported statement' and reflects my son's views and not my own. I did wonder why you rated the form and rhythm so low as it's one of the few poems I've tried to keep to a meter. Did you feel it didn't flow or fit somehow? Did you find the form inappropriate? Not complaining - just curious. Thanks again for reading and commenting. My Best >W<
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Hi,
Just want to say that I reread the poem once again and liked it. Since you pointed out how you specifically tried to keep meter in this poem, I went back and read it aloud to myself (which somtimes helps me get the flow of the poem) and I noticed that it does have a very nice meter and flows well.
To answer your question of why I "rated the form and rhythm so low," I really don't have an answer. I can be a bit arbitrary with those rating . . . I try to put my feelings about a poem into the comment, I find it hard to sum it all up in just those numbers. Basically, for me, though, a 3 is not "low." I very rarely give out scores of above 3 . . . to me 3 just means "average or decent." I think what I was probably thinking at the time was that the form and rhythm didn't jump out at me as particularly amazing, but they did not in any way detract from the poem. I would probably give the rhythm a 4 now that I look back at it, since the way it bounces and flows is a bit "upbeat," going along with the humorous tone of the poem, and it is definitely well done. I guess I didn't pay as much attention to it the first time.
So yah, I think it is a good poem, it is actually a memorable one, too, as it is humorous and I like how it pertains to math and kids' feelings towards it at times :-) Actually, another though just popped into my head, I think I would probably give the Subject a 5 now, too, just because I really like the subject, more so than I did on the first few reads :-)
So yah, its a good poem. Don't let the "3s" give you the impression that I though otherwise . . . 3s to me just mean I have nothing either good or bad to say . . . possibly because I overlooked something, such as the nice rhythm of your poem.
Alright, I look forward to reading more of your poetry when I get some time, have a great day :-)
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Ur a good mathemathcian !!!
I personally loved this one , even though maths is my least fav subject !!! Its just so uggh . And that dum formula a(sq) x b(sq) = c(sq) just irritates me sometimes .
I loved reading this and plz do keep writing .
~~~Abhi~~~. Rewarded 4
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Thanks (sq.) !
Straight 5.s ! That's 36 ! I'm so proud ! Thanks for reading and commenting Abhi !
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gypsy dreams
June 18, 2006
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