Mathematics

[riverstone]

Write a poem or story that mentions something mathematical. Things add up, lives are divided, love is subtracted, feast or famine multiplied.

The world will last until in countless eons it is drawn into the sun, or Amageddon approaches in hours or minutes.

There are fifty fish in the backyard pool, there is only one that matters at the bend in the silver river.

One hundred instruments join to create a symphony, one drummer beating out a cadence tells the story of death or victory.

Here's the first one I wrote with this prompt:

Attraction: Higher Mathematics
You are the south to my north,
strong hands, soft beard, safe heart,
warming my feet, my hand,
my heart, in rain and tears and ice floes.
You are the west to my east,
tall monolithic mesa erupted,
desert landscapes sculpted by rivers,
they flowed before I knew you, for eons.
You are the honey to my fly,
the sweet spot that draws me in,
senses alert to your thick golden flow,
homing in on you, longing for a taste.
You are the right to my left,
the smooth to my rough,
the friend of years gone by and to be,
adding, multiplying, flowing to infinity.

[Phyllis Stewart]

Score Your Life

Score 50 points if born to a two-parent home,
and add 10 more for each childhood year
of play and pretend and trust. Subtract 5 each
for flat chests, pimples, and adolescent grief.
Teen years are scored for popularity and acceptance,
1-5 per year. First broken heart subtracts 25.
College without needing a loan is surely worth 8.
Joy in learning and making friends? Choose from 1-10.
Now, a job’s worth 5, but a career’s 40 more,
and it’s 60 for marrying a wonderful mate.
Divorce deducts 50, poverty costs you 12.
Add 30 for each child, 20 for a nice comfy home,
and 1 for each hour spent with family –
I think you’ll find that one can add up fast.
Subtract 50-500 for poor health,
Add 50 for financially secure retirement.
Add 30 each per grandchild, 40 if they live near.

Now, when you know you are getting close
to moving upstairs, look back on the life you had.
If you smile with satisfaction, take a 10 million bonus.
If you cry with regret, drop to zero for a pointless life.

[Nacia]

ZERO plays up, then round then back
infinite fun in gaming sense
it's always there no matter what!
the number ONE is solo once
for comes in TWO and duet's done,
THREE never doubts it adds to mix
for THREE is free and then it brings
a stroke of luck when TWO and ONE
draw up a THREE!
FOUR has it all in shape and thoughts
in such a world of gain and fall
for twice the TWO makes up the FOUR
that's clever FOUR all smiles and plauds
when FIVE arrives it greets in highs
but
SIX is fine fired and weighs
the winning face the dice's claim
SEVEN is just, slightly bemused
to stand as far as down below
but hey, it's never late
in table say!
EIGHT never minds
sweetness in sound,
it really does look like a twist
between an O and ZERO course,
NINE says it all
it's mildly flaud
but likes it just,
upside and down
in SIX that is
but hey who cares
we know it all!

[Mutawintji]

The Second Law of Thermodynamics

‘The second Law ’, The Lecturer said
Dutiful students dropped their heads.
Each pen scribbled on each page.
All systems undergo spontaneous change.

‘All systems of their own accord ’,
The Lecturer wrote across the board.
The students copied in perfect order.
'All systems tend to high disorder.'

‘If the free energy can drop ’.
The Lecturer came to a sudden stop.
Each student paused. Each pencil poised.
The bell had rung. A growing noise.

From each classroom students poured.
Down the corridors they roared.
Hoots and cries, a madhouse rush,
To be the first to reach the bus.

But in one classroom, order reigned.
The Lecturer ignored the change.
Each student struggled gamely on.
The pent up energy was strong

‘If a small increase in a systems order,
Results in higher total disorder,
Then ! ’.......pause.... ‘across the range,
All systems undergo spontaneous change ’

‘The amount of possible change can be,
Almost as high as infinity.
To return the system as before,
Is one such change…….. Boys……. no more. ’

Down went each pencil, closed each book.
Up their satchels, each student took.
And out to join the growing throng
Where they’d wished they were all along

The Lecturer smiled, as he had before.
He wondered about the Second Law,
And why he bothered day after day
To go against it in this way.

.

[Lewdog]

Mathematics is a lot like sex, one misplaced period can ruin the outcome.

[Mutawintji]

Originally Posted by Lewdog

Mathematics is a lot like sex, one misplaced period can ruin the outcome.

Originally Posted by Mutawintji

And a missing period .. can have an unequal outcome

I tink the Lewdog and I
just invented
Quotery Poetry

HaaHaa ... greg

[beefheart]

Wow, I wrote a perfect fit for this not too long ago. It's posted on here already, so I wonder if it's still eligible? Here it is, anyway.

Into the Matrix

Narrow shapes
cast upon the wall.
Unrecognizable figures
with inconsequential names
and non existent thoughts.
Shadow shapes
do come together,
do come apart
again
and over.
Move quick-methodic.
Move slow-instinctual.
Shaded regions whom
multiply, exponentially,
spanning both
quadratic planes,
whom divide, irrationally
once factored
into the matrix.
In
to
the
matrix
they go,
reduced, then simplified.
They wanted answer,
they prayed to mathematics.
All they got were
shady figures
cast upon the wall.
Mixed fractions
of non real numbers
which ultimately equated
to inconsistent data
from unpredictable variable
and unintelligible result.

[Lewdog]

Originally Posted by Mutawintji

I tink the Lewdog and I
just invented
Quotery Poetry

HaaHaa ... greg

Unequal outcome? is that when one person gets an orgasm and the other doesn't?

[Mutawintji]

Originally Posted by Lewdog

Unequal outcome? is that when one person gets an orgasm and the other doesn't?

Haaaa ... i was thinkin more along the lines of

(1 + 1) = 3
as in a Baby

Greg