I just learned that today is International Pi Day and thought I’d share this poem I wrote a while back:<\/p>\n
Formulae<\/strong><\/p>\n I. e \u03c0i<\/sup> \u2013 1 = 0<\/em><\/p>\n Shadow cast by the flight II. A2<\/sup> + B2<\/sup> = C2<\/sup><\/em><\/p>\n Any lean into that III. \u03a6 = 1\/\u03a6 + 1<\/em><\/p>\n It’s what We make IV. e = mc2<\/sup><\/p>\n Call it the scandal of V. man, woman, child<\/p>\n A neat enough trinity, but there <\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n I. e \u03c0<\/sup> i<\/sup> \u2013 1 = 0<\/em> <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Shadow cast by the flight<\/p>\n of goose populations<\/p>\n and the spread of moss, eternal<\/p>\n circumferential constancy.<\/p>\n The unreal i. <\/em>Terms<\/p>\n so unlike as to appear<\/p>\n animate with intention, old<\/p>\n mismatched friends posing,<\/p>\n defiant \u2013 unity<\/p>\n pointedly leaving room for<\/p>\n (oft-invented) vacancy \u2013 arms<\/p>\n around one another\u2019s<\/p>\n shoulders: ONE,<\/p>\n TWO, THREE,<\/p>\n smile.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n II. A2<\/sup> + B2<\/sup> = C2 <\/sup><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Any lean into that<\/p>\n second dimension (body<\/p>\n raised off the bed, fall<\/p>\n of sunlight angling just past<\/p>\n the perpendicular, a sudden<\/p>\n realization) and they<\/p>\n obtain: cornered sides<\/p>\n and taut diagonal, bound<\/p>\n forever by their endpoints<\/p>\n and quadratics<\/p>\n they can never outrun, wriggle<\/p>\n how they may (sprinters\u2019<\/p>\n feet in the blocks) by<\/p>\n the slightest square root of<\/p>\n a finish line stretch.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n III. j<\/span><\/span> = 1\/j<\/span><\/span> + 1<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It\u2019s what<\/p>\n we suspect of them all,<\/p>\n the narcissism of<\/p>\n the self-defined, \u201clet<\/p>\n there be light\u201d declared<\/p>\n by light itself. How<\/p>\n is it they should<\/p>\n be allowed to define<\/p>\n what beauty is?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We make<\/p>\n our counterarguments, marshal<\/p>\n observations carefully<\/p>\n qualified and quantified.<\/p>\n Are answered by<\/p>\n tautology.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n IV. e = mc2<\/sup><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Call it the scandal of<\/p>\n actuality, when formulae<\/p>\n mushroom into the world.<\/p>\n You can use any<\/p>\n constant, invent<\/p>\n any unit of measure<\/p>\n to express the ratio of<\/p>\n concept to consequence,<\/p>\n but it\u2019s better<\/p>\n if it\u2019s big.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n V. man, woman, child<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n A neat enough trinity, but there<\/p>\n is always some fractional<\/p>\n entity, some cruelly wronged,<\/p>\n abandoned one, some parent<\/p>\n hovering over a shoulder. (They lie<\/p>\n asleep, parallel<\/p>\n to one another, dreaming.)<\/p>\n And the boy, sitting<\/p>\n at the breakfast table<\/p>\n between them, a vertex<\/p>\n from which a second<\/p>\n and opposing angle extends<\/p>\n to encompass<\/p>\n the schoolyard bully, the secret<\/p>\n places of the neighborhood, his<\/p>\n erroneous mental picture<\/p>\n of the solar system obtained<\/p>\n at school the day before which no one<\/p>\n will ever discover and he<\/p>\n will forget, and out<\/p>\n into the world, the circumscriptions<\/p>\n of its orbit, the far from empty<\/p>\n interstellar regions, expanding<\/p>\n at the speed of light<\/p>\n squared.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I just learned that today is International Pi Day and thought I’d share this poem I wrote a while back:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-my-writing"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.authorfreeman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.authorfreeman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.authorfreeman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.authorfreeman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.authorfreeman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.authorfreeman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.authorfreeman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.authorfreeman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.authorfreeman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nof goose populations
\nand the spread of moss, eternal
\ncircumferential constancy.
\nThe unreal i. Terms
\nso unlike as to appear
\nanimate with intention, old
\nmismatched friends posing,
\ndefiant – unity
\npointedly leaving room for
\n(oft-invented) vacancy – arms
\naround one another’s
\nshoulders: ONE,
\nTWO, THREE,
\nsmile.<\/p>\n
\nsecond dimension (body
\nraised off the bed, fall
\nof sunlight angling just past
\nthe perpendicular, a sudden
\nrealization) and they
\nobtain: cornered sides
\nand taut diagonal, bound
\nforever by their endpoints
\nand quadratics
\nthey can never outrun, wriggle
\nhow they may (sprinters’
\nfeet in the blocks) by
\nthe slightest square root of
\na finish line stretch.<\/p>\n
\nwe suspect of them all,
\nthe narcissism of
\nthe self-defined, “let
\nthere be light” declared
\nby light itself. How
\nis it they should
\nbe allowed to define
\nwhat beauty is?<\/p>\n
\nour counterarguments, marshal
\nobservations carefully
\nqualified and quantified.
\nAre answered by
\ntautology.<\/p>\n
\nactuality, when formulae
\nmushroom into the world.
\nYou can use any
\nconstant, invent
\nany unit of measure
\nto express the ratio of
\nconcept to consequence,
\nbut it’s better
\nif it’s big.<\/p>\n
\nis always some fractional
\nentity, some cruelly wronged,
\nabandoned one, some parent
\nhovering over a shoulder. (They lie
\nasleep, parallel
\nto one another, dreaming.)
\nAnd the boy, sitting
\nat the breakfast table
\nbetween them, a vertex
\nfrom which a second
\nand opposing angle extends
\nto encompass
\nthe schoolyard bully, the secret
\nplaces of the neighborhood, his
\nerroneous mental picture
\nof the solar system obtained
\nat school the day before which no one
\nwill ever discover and he
\nwill forget, and out
\ninto the world, the circumscriptions
\nof its orbit, the far from empty
\ninterstellar regions, expanding
\nat the speed of light
\nsquared.<\/p>\nFormulae<\/h1>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n