Parallel Lines

By luigi_pagano

Sat, 28 Apr 2018
  • 1597 reads
6 comments
 

For maths and geometry
I fail to find much use
and I cannot understand
the role of the hypotenuse
In fact the whole subject
is certain to confuse.

If I don't recall a formula
I will look for an angle
to fathom out the area
of a right angle triangle
but all my calculations
will end up in a tangle.

Amid my fellow students
I am definitely a misfit.
In the exam's room
I do a moonlight flit
as I'm unable to work out
the line of best fit.

People might criticise
the extent of my stupidity
yet scientists have reached
the apogee of absurdity
saying that parallel lines
will meet, if taken to infinity.

© Luigi Pagano 2018

Certificate U
Poem
Are you being versed?
Inspiration Point (work that responds to our weekly writing cue)

Comments

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

When I mentioned 'infinity' as the IP to my husband, who is a mathematician, he started trying to explain about rational and irrational numbers, one being countable, and one not countable, but both being infinite sets … but I lost the explanation and became glassy eyed, I'm afraid, and like your parallel lines, the concepts seemed holographic somehow or a mirage, and beyond my understanding and visualisation! Rhiannon

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Dear Rhiannon, while able to cope with basic mathematical functions as algebra and trigonometry, I am flummoxed by advanced concepts such as the one about parallel lines. Even after many years I still remember my teacher's assertion that the theorem could be proved. I am not holding my breath waiting for a simple explanation.

Luigi x

 

Submitted by airyfairy on

I remember watching a television programme once on the concept of infinity.  I found it absolutely fascinating.  Didn't understand a word.  I think at one point they tried to illustrate it with very long corridors of hotel rooms.  That just reminded me of 'The Shining'.

Enjoyed the poem, Luigi!

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Hi Jane. ​Give me language anytime! I am at ease with words but once someone starts bombarding me with axioms and theorems which are beyond my comprehension I switch off.
​My working life has always involved numbers but only of the double-entry variety.

Thanks for reading and commenting.

Luigi x

 

Submitted by Zabeth on

Clever poem, though I'm not sure what you're trying to express (other than that you're bad at math). I thought maybe you were juxtaposing the apparent scientific and logical accuracy of mathematics against your own intuitive reasoning, and in so doing, exposing the contradiction of so-called "irrational numbers," but I think I'm just projecting. If this is what you're going for (or even if it isn't), maybe try to go deeper into your theme and tease out the implications. I like the clever use of mathematical terms, but as Geordi LaForge told his friend Data, "maybe think about what you're trying to say, instead of how you're saying it." 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Hello Zabeth. Nice to hear a new voice.
​Don't be deceived by the self-deprecating tone: I am not the dolt that the piece seems to imply but I try to introduce a light, tongue-in-cheek, touch into my writing to make it amusing.
​I can appreciate that you weren't sure what I was getting at but your assumption that I was juxtaposing the apparent scientific and logical accuracy of mathematics against my own intuitive reasoning is absolutely correct. To go deeper into the theme and tease out the implications is beyond the scope of a simple poem and would require a scientific dissertation by expert analysts which I am not.
​Let me reply to your friend Geordy LaForge with this quote in Alice in Wonderland: "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less.". "

Thanks for your feedback.

Cheers, Luigi.