Morning Math

October (originally the eighth month) shares a root with octopus and octothorpe i.e. Latin octo-, meaning “eight” but became the tenth month in 450 B.C. when the Julian calendar replaced the old Roman one. And then, from numbers to angles and a total non sequitur, Bertrand Russell said “geometry is delicious” which is a thought-provoking idea at breakfast, though it does depend on what one is about to eat …

MORNING MATH

geometry is delicious                              
especially for breakfast
squared toast with round egg
rectangular knife & fork

theorems decline
from plate to spoon
space spanned
table-length by chair
measured and surveyed
with caliper and gauge

every angle chewed over
until an isosceles is broken
on an equilateral arc

A

A

‘A Bedroom of Searchlights’: poetry. This collection draws a picture of the poet’s divorced mother, an artist with two children, who struggled with poverty, war, and the realities of daily life, yet still found beauty and comfort in her garden, and her art. From Inanna Publications, 2016.