i is a number (I’m not)
| i has a special faculty
it’s constructed totally there’s no other complex number that’s like that i was made up to create the opportunity to solve equations in physics what if i is the square root of minus one what if i DOES exist? turns out you can count on it to disappear once the equation is solved i made things possible that weren’t possible before |
i have a special faculty i am constructed totally there’s no other complex being that’s like me i was made up to create the opportunity to solve equations somewhere, somehow what if i am a square root of minus one what if I Do exist? turns out you can count on me to disappear once the equation is solved i make things possible that weren’t possible before |
|
solve equations create opportunities i will disappear |
equations solved opportunities created i did disappear |
The prompt today at octpowrimo.com was numbers, and host Amy McGrath provided a list of numbers that have specific connotations. My in house mathematician tried to get me to write about cardinal numbers, because they’re counterintuitive, beautiful, inventive and realising they existed needed a lot of inventiveness and creativity (all hail the fabulous brain of Georg Cantor!).
I, on the other hand, fell immediately for i… i has more poetic opportunties than I’ve used. Look at this:
- the powers of i repeat in a cycle
- dividing by i is equivalent to multiplying by the reciprocal of i
Doesn’t that want to make you do math – or write a poem?
If you like my attempt at combining poetry with science, you can find more when you click on the tag science.
Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mpancha/2505656136
Alright, so: first of all, I LOVED this. It was exciting just reading this, going back and forth between the lines, watching each one unfold. I love the intercontextuality of this (and if that is not a word, it bloody well is now!) The sense of being constrained by i, both the number and the expression, boundless both and limited still, is expressed so wonderfully here. Defined by the real-concrete and the more intangible, they are nevertheless bound to one another – like an atom with one electron and one proton.
The imagined grounded in the real (because it always references reality) and the real grounded in the imaginary (because perception IS imagination, after a fashion…)
Now, that said, I really DUG the switch at the very end, where one becomes a priori and the other a posteriori: one “made” things possible with the solution of the “equation” but the other being “equal to” other things “makes” things possible. The natural conclusion of this and the flip at the end was genius. Now, the number becomes assurance “will disappear” and the i becomes a fact “did disappear.” So borne from fact and into projection, borne from projection and into fact. The transmutation of one into the other and vice-versa.
I don’t know if I am explaining this well. I am not one for maths.
In short? Standing ovation is the scene I am looking for. Figure I have about ten seconds before the black hole starts forming… seven… six…
Love this poem.
Fond memories of i, from my senior year.
And lovely poem, even if so full of despair!
Hugs. I see u. XO
Now THIS… is a brilliant comment!
Expresses perfectly what I felt.
Thank you!
You’re welcome n_n
Yes! Yes, yes! It’s a miracle of a poem. Your response , analysis, and interpretation are grwat, Spiral ! I feel a bit transformed by this poem , which, I guess is what math can do to a person !
“you can count on it” “you can count on me” beautifully constructed all the way!
Wow! I loved math in school. That said, it took a while to recollect about I(mommy brains or just getting older without using brains). This is just brilliant
Pingback: Letter from Zagreb | Unassorted stories
As requested by Angela, here is my poem that she feels matches well with this one. Enjoy.
Riddle Dee Dee