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Pi In Pythagorean Theorem: How to turn circles into triangles
by Lacey SmithPi in Pythagorean Theorem: by Lacey Smith 7/9/2001
How to turn circles into triangles
I.
This is my clavicle bone. It has
two sides and a hollow. From
bone one to bone two it measures
37 degrees, but I think it's the
right angle.
37 degrees: the same as the slant
made with my black liner from bottom
lid to top. My eyes always held a
certain symmetry I didn't
understand.
37 degrees times two equals
the 74 slant of my nose. I have
even found that 74 degrees is the
angle in the middle of my upper lip.
My face is still in golden proportion.
II.
The back of my legs are scabbing
in the shape of bluegrass.
I know it is the harp and guitar
in 3/4 time that's making these scars.
I've a centimeter deep cut on my uvula.
It is the only bleeding I've
never been able to tongue.
I can feel the blood drip
ping down my throat, each interval softer
and faster than the first.
Ta. Tika Ta. Tika Tika. Tika Tika Ta.
Ta. Ta. Ta.
III.
You've said light grows like a plant from
my head. The red is more intelligent
in the sunshine, both high and low
but always evenly distributed.
Every once in awhile I look at it
and see my father. The rest
of the time I see you. First a
particle, then a line.
A circle, a sphere.
Eventually the orange and
the citrus I've come to expect
from boys like you.
It measures 1 foot and 8 inches.
I can braid it if you like.
IV.
The attachment to the edge
of my stomach involves conics.
From ribcage to navel, I feel a
parabola. And from hip
to waist and I chest I am
a hyperbola.
See the way my jeans and
belt loops fall at x=-.5?
That is all perfectly planned
just like my legs, straight edged
but widening at particular parts.
They fall like water cast
over the attachment at the
edge of my skin.
V.
I've decided the answer to everything
is to cube it.
My melancholy can be
shaped at a fraction
of the cost, but not the
intentions you've labored to my
rejection.
Not the same 3 numbers we
counted out in unison.
Uno, Zwei, Trois.
The circle to the third
will always have 3 sides.
The Out.
The In.
The De. 07/09/2001 Posted on 12/12/2003
Copyright © 2024 Lacey Smith
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Max Bouillet on 12/12/03 at 11:34 PM I never thought number crunching could be so fun. Great wit fills this numeric masterpiece. Great read! |
| Posted by Alison McKenzie on 12/15/03 at 02:14 AM If only my brain had given birth to the wistful genius I might have been - then perhaps I might know if what you wrote was truly brilliant mathmatically speaking or only truly brilliant in the simplest creative sense. As it is, I'll have to settle for my jaw dropping in complete ignorant awe!!! :-) Plus, I KNOW you're younger than me, and I wish I'd been intelligent enough to form that masterpiece when I was your age!!!! KUDOS!!!! |
| Posted by Indigo Tempesta on 03/29/04 at 04:54 AM i love the images of the body and the correlation to mathematics - two things that are, as surely as we are able to tell, true. |
| Posted by Graeme Fielden on 05/01/04 at 02:17 AM I'm thankful for the "favourite list," otherwise I wouldn't have seen this...Quite Da Vinci'ian really...very cool |
| Posted by Agnes Eva on 07/16/04 at 08:24 PM a very unique voice and tone - very interesting poetry! |
| Posted by Charles E Minshall on 12/25/04 at 04:39 PM Congratulations for poem of the day! Very, very
well deserved!!!!....Charlie |
| Posted by Marianne Reddan on 12/16/08 at 04:41 AM "It measures 1 foot and 8 inches.
I can braid it if you like."
My favorite line! |
| Posted by Alison McKenzie on 03/17/09 at 07:07 PM I just re-read this, and it's still one of my all-time favorite poems! |
| Posted by Jim Benz on 03/05/14 at 07:32 PM This is excellent. |
| Posted by George Hoerner on 08/02/17 at 02:05 AM Both as a poet and a math major I really enjoyed this greatly. |
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