new math
equality is not the same as experience
and it makes me wonder if
all the first times
have to add up
to the same number
as the last times
and who made that rule
and why do i have
to follow it
it’s all in the numbers
it can all be calculated with
equations and dollar signs
first
smile step kiss
last
kiss laugh breath
not exactly the same
not exact at all
because no one has the right answers
and no one gets to see
the cheat sheet
or all the lines, verbs, nouns and
adjectives that wriggled their way
in between
and the teacher is sitting in the corner
wearing her carefully decorated dunce cap
trying to figure out how to make
her last first time
add up
to all the time
that came before it
and she has all these numbers
crisscrossed on the palm of her hand
but she can’t find one zero anywhere
.
.
.
Linking up with the fabulous dVerse poets for Poetics, join us!
September 15th, 2012 at 9:15 am
oh how i love this zero.
September 15th, 2012 at 10:34 am
Now there’s math to fall in love with, your thoughts and creativity always warm and inspire me. You’re a bright star!
September 15th, 2012 at 11:54 am
and she has all these numbers
crisscrossed on the palm of her hand
but she can’t find one zero anywhere….very cool where you go with this…just love the closure..love the whole piece…good questions in it as well…ha
September 15th, 2012 at 12:20 pm
ha….for every first there is a last it seems…and how we break that i am not sure…i like the teacher as well with the dunce cap trying to figure it out…we are all doing just that….figuring it out as we go…
September 15th, 2012 at 12:52 pm
I love your writing and how you think! Figuring it out as we go–
September 15th, 2012 at 1:22 pm
Love this…
September 15th, 2012 at 2:15 pm
Love that the teacher’s wearing the dunce cap…forever students..learning always for the first time. Beautiful poetry!
September 15th, 2012 at 3:05 pm
I love this. You definitely have me going and coming or coming and going with your words!
September 15th, 2012 at 3:10 pm
Wow, This is wonderful. Love the image of the teacherin the last stanza.
September 15th, 2012 at 3:13 pm
Well done.
September 15th, 2012 at 3:13 pm
this is so creative, absolutely love the philosophizing and the teacher as the wearer of the dunce cap, that was outstanding. Really awesome take on the prompt. Thanks
September 15th, 2012 at 4:49 pm
I do like the adding and subtracting the first and last time and in-between ~ And I agree, experience is always the better teacher ~
September 15th, 2012 at 5:13 pm
clever word play
September 15th, 2012 at 5:26 pm
Amazing metaphor…
no one has the right answers
and no one gets to see
the cheat sheet
September 15th, 2012 at 5:41 pm
I love the logic in this poem, shining through the language. I think ‘last first time’ has got to be one of the coolest juxtapositions I’ve heard, and I will remember it, even though I pretty much suck at math.
September 15th, 2012 at 6:12 pm
the first line is so intriguing… then
“and it makes me wonder if
all the first times
have to add up
to the same number
as the last times”
I really liked this. It is making me think and consider and I I like when that happens.
September 15th, 2012 at 6:22 pm
One of the reasons I love this poem is that it chimes with me as I am terrible at maths and anything to do with figures. I like the idea that life is a confusing mess of things that don’t quite ad up and it’s not just me being a dunce! Thank you.
September 15th, 2012 at 7:59 pm
I love your word wrap around numbers. Your first line restates itself as I read the poem a second and third time. very nice write!
September 15th, 2012 at 10:09 pm
because no one has
the right answers
and no one gets to see
the cheat sheet
That’s maths! And that’s life too! We get to grope around for answers because of inexperience. The cheat sheet wasn’t there. It came later after we had gone through the trial and tribulations. Nice thoughts Jo!
Hank
September 15th, 2012 at 10:12 pm
Aha! We WANT it to add up though – that’s the thing–and no, we can’t. Very clever. k.
September 15th, 2012 at 11:28 pm
I. So. Love. This….especially the three closing lines. Fantastic write!
September 15th, 2012 at 11:50 pm
May your lovely experiences (and poems) multiply.
September 16th, 2012 at 12:02 am
“first
smile step kiss
last
kiss laugh breath”
this part intrigued me most. 🙂
September 16th, 2012 at 12:05 am
There’s always a lot of question and sometimes they don’t add up…if only we could have that cheat sheet. Very interesting perspective!
September 16th, 2012 at 3:26 am
Feels like ages since I’ve been here to read! Great poem- raising interesting questions….to me it speaks of measurement- how we try to measure life- as in ‘how much money do you earn’ or ‘what car do you drive?’- like these things actually equate to ‘US’ and what define us…but they don’t – because as you say, our endings are not comparable to our beginnings….and life cannot be calculated….so good
September 16th, 2012 at 3:34 am
Great word play. Loved it.
September 16th, 2012 at 4:38 am
“and she has all these numberscrisscrossed on the palm of her handbut she can’t find one zero anywhere” Mrs.M, l like other people found these lines very cool! Quirky- expressive!
September 16th, 2012 at 6:02 am
They don’t add up…nothing really adds up…I can so relate to this poem
September 16th, 2012 at 8:13 am
i read this yesterday and lines stayed with me all day. that teacher in her dunce cap – her carefully decorated dunce cap – stayed with me especially. carefully decorated – i love that. love that all the care and trying and mapmaking and counting means nada in the end. love that exactness equals nothing.
you are just amazing.
September 16th, 2012 at 9:12 am
As a new math hater…this one speaks to me! Bottom line…let’s simplify! Your Words + Your talent = AWESOME poetry 🙂
September 16th, 2012 at 9:59 am
Whoa! well written.
… ‘no one has the right answers
and no one gets to see
the cheat sheet’
good lines. powerful thought.
in fondest, tilda
September 16th, 2012 at 2:37 pm
[…] upon which within which all things balance […]
September 16th, 2012 at 5:57 pm
So clever, enjoyable.
September 17th, 2012 at 1:16 am
We travel a math trail with a lot of feelings and images wonderful
September 17th, 2012 at 10:14 am
Love this!!!
September 17th, 2012 at 10:34 am
Round and round we go, the first and last could be the same or the last will come and the teacher with the dunce cap haha, like that.
September 17th, 2012 at 6:40 pm
So in love with this mind bender . . . I never was good at math.