Mathematical language can heighten the imagery of a poem; mathematical structure can deepen its effect. Feast on an international menu of poems made rich by mathematical ingredients -- and gathered here by JoAnne Growney, whose personal website is at https://joannegrowney.com/ .
Recently I found -- and have been musing over -- this poetic quote by poet Carl Sandburg (1878-1967) : Arithmetic is where the answer is right and everything is nice and you can look out of the window and see the blue sky --- or the answer is wrong and you have to start over and try again and see how it comes out this time.
T his article " Everybody is a Math Person . . . " by writer and teacher Larry Ferlazzo explores the nature of math anxiety and also the meanings of the terms: "math person" and "poetry person." Ferlazzo offers these views: Many students say: “I’m not good at math.” A statement made by one student that turns into a ripple effect: “Math is so hard.” “My parents aren’t good at math, and neither am…
This week I have been enjoying family vacation time but this evening I have a moment to share a mathy poem that I found recently on Facebook -- "THE WORLD I LIVE IN" -- lines by one of my favorite poets, Mary Oliver (1935-2019), Lots of information about her is available at this link and ten of her very fine poems are available here .
Recently I came across this website -- 30 Memorable Mathematics Poems - Tiny Poetry -- and I enjoyed browsing its poems. The website included the following comment: These poems are completely original - not copied from anywhere. Feel free to use them however you want. Here is a sample: Read more »
Gregory Coxson , recently retired faculty member at the US Naval Academy's Electrical and Computer Engineering Department -- and a long-time friend, enjoys discovering and sharing mathy poems -- some of them his own, Recently he sent me the following Fib. A Fib by Gregory Coxson I You We all Have built-in Math abilities We’re captivated by puzzles Daily life is full of numbers and calculations.…
Here are the opening stanzas of a thoughtful poem by mathematician-writer Marian Christie : Christie's complete poem is available here on her website and previous inclusions of her work in this blog may be found at this link .
Raymond Nat Turner is the poet-in-residence for Black Agenda Report (a website of news, commentary, and analysis from the black left) -- and I have found and been moved by his mathy poem of protest entitled "Short word problems: do the math" l I offer its opening stanzas below, followed by a link to the complete poem. Read more »
Enjoy a 1-minute video celebrating the MATH and POETRY of Omar Khayyam This Mathematician Solved Impossible Equations While Writing Poetry -- YouTube This blog posting -- from long ago in 2011 -- also features Khayyam. Omar Khayyam (1048–1131) was a Persian poet and polymath, known for his contributions to mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, and Persian literature. He was born in Nishapur, Iran…
Each year an international BRIDGES Conference celebrates the connections between mathematics and the arts -- featuring connections with music, literature, visual art, theater . . . Here is a link to the website for the 2026 BRIDGES Conference -- to be held August 5-8 in Galway, Ireland. An important and popular part of each BRIDGES Conference is a Poetry Reading. Scheduled for Saturday, August 8,…
I have been saddened to learn of the death, early in May, of philosopher, writer, and professor at Penn State University -- and a frequent contributor to this blog -- Emily Rolfe Grosholz . ( Here is a link to her informative obituary .) In remembrance of Emiy, here is the opening stanza of her poem ""In Praise of Fractals" -- posted in this blog at this link back in November, 2014. from "In…
A website that I enjoy visiting and one that many current math teachers could enjoy visiting often is Denise Gaskins' Let's Play Math – Helping families to learn and enjoy math together. Learn more about Gaskins here in this biographical sketch -- and enjoy her Let's Play Math blog . Here is a link to a posting with several mathy poems: Math Makers: Write a Poem – Denise Gaskins' Let's Play Math .…
This month, America celebrates its Juneteenth , commemorating the day the last group of enslaved African Americans was informed they were free. Juneteenth marks the events of June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas when the last Black slaves of the Confederacy were ordered free following the arrival of Union troops. Also called Emancipation Day or Freedom Day, the holiday rose to national prominence in…
Combining math and parenting . .. It delights me that Scientific American includes science-related poetry -- and when my monthly issue arrives I turn first to the monthly poem. Here are the opening stanzas of ' The Algorithm ' by California poet Barbara Quick from the May, 2022 issue. Optimization under uncertainty is a field of study in which my grown son will earn his Ph.D. The math, in his…
Sent to me by poet Jacqueline Lapidus , I have this slightly mathy poem: The Screaming Toddler Ratio The volume of the voice is in inverse proportion to the size of the speaker/screamer. When I hear that screech in a store, I follow it to the stroller, squat down to eye level in spite of knee, and whisper, "Are you the very small person who's making that GREAT BIG NOISE?" Invariably, the kid stops…
I found this poem online here at poets.org . Biographical information about Robert Browning also is found at the above link.
A few weeks ago (during National Poetry Month) I came upon an opinion piece by Danny Heitman in the The Washington POST with this title: " I read poetry for work. You get to read it for pleasure. " And today I am thinking about duality of roles for mathematics activity as well as for poetry -- a pleasure or a puzzle?? I celebrate both. Danny Heitman is the editor of Phi Kappa Phi’s Forum magazine…
We different humans have different abilities . . . Zoeglossia is a literary organization seeking to pioneer a new, inclusive space for poets with disabilities. Launched in 2017, Zoeglossia is the first such organization in the poetry landscape. The idea is to provide an intersectional community open to a wide range of disability poetics, encouraging conversation and support. This link leads to a…
Each year the month of April is celebrated as National Poetry Month -- and upcoming April 29, 2026 is this year's Poem in Your Pocket Day . I invite you to explore this blog to find a poem you'd love to carry in your pocket . . . .and, below, I provide another possible pocket-poem -- this one a poem whose line-syllables are counted by the Fibonacci numbers. These lines below are the opening lines…
Only a bit of math ... but an important concern ... needing a solution: This link leads to more mathy poems in this blog by Langston Hughes (1901-1967).
Today I have discovered the wonderful list of winning poems from this years Math-Poetry Contest sponsored by the American Mathematical Society. This link to the AMS website offers links to thirteen winning poems , ,, , I encourage you to follow the link and enjoy . . . and encourage students you know to explore math-poetry connections. Below I offer the opening stanzas of a very fine poem by one…
April is National Poetry Month AND National Mathematics and Statistics Awareness Month -- and here in this blog we continue to celebrate poetry-math connections. Below I offer the opening stanzas of an old poem of mine entitled " Time " . The clock goes round -- making time a circle rather than a line. Each year's return to spring layers time on time. Read more »
The shape and patterns of the following lines have me thinking of them as a visual poem: 1 x 1 = 1 11 x 11 = 121 111 x 111 = 12321 1111 x 1111 = 1234321 11111 x 11111 = 123454321 111111 x 111111 = 12345654321 1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321 11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321 111111111 x 111111111 = 12345678987654321
Lots of years ago, an important part of my awareness of poems that involve math came from reading work by Martin Gardner in his "Mathematical Games" in Scientific American . . . and it has been a delight to me to find poetry again in my issues of that magazine. METER , a Scientific American feature edited by Dava Sobel , offers a bit of science-related poetry each month -- and the April 2026 issue…
Online I have learned about a recent lecture by Werner Herzog at Brooklyn Public Library's Pi-Day celebration: Is Math Art? Werner Herzog Says Yes . Quoting from Herzog's presentation : "Beyond all of this, I do believe mathematics is a new form of art. . . It is loaded with meaning. It's not just an aesthetic or a form of abstract painting. It's loaded with poetry." Read more »
A Congressional Resolution declaring 2026 as a Year of Math in the U.S. was introduced in the Senate (on 12/18/2025) by its co-sponsors, Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R,WV) and John Hickenlooper (D, CO), and in the House (on 3/92/2026) by its co-sponsors, Representatives Chrissy Houlahan (D, PA-6) and Jay Obernolte (R, CA-23). We deeply appreciate that this is a bipartisan effort in both…