I have just been reading Transformatrix, a collection by a poet new to me – Patience Agbabi
I am so glad we have been introduced. She makes me laugh & cry, & feel angry because sometimes I don’t know whether to laugh or cry
The bit I will quote here comes from Prologue, which was originally broadcast on the BBC World Service in 2000
Give me a noun
give me a verb
and I’m in motion
cos I’m on a mission
to deliver information
so let me take you to the fifth dimension.
No fee, it’s free,
you only gotta pay attention.
So sit back, relax,
let me take you back
to when you learnt to walk, talk,
learnt coordination
and communication,
mama
dada.
If you rub two words together you get friction
cut them in half, you get a fraction.
If you join two words you get multiplication.
My school of mathematics
equals verbal acrobatics
so lets make conversation.
I chose it precisely for its verbal acrobatics but also because I am thinking of putting together a small private collection of poems which use specifically mathematical references, analogy, metaphors – figures
