“The Math Major, My Hero”
—to Erika as promised
You inform me that the cycloid on your computer
is not a flower. Then you compare your
list of conquests to an inverse graph as a
contrast to my metaphorical equivalent.
The equations of your calculus textbooks
escape off into tangents to leer as I huddle
behind the prose of Austen and Bronte—more
tension of the integral battle between sense and sensibility.
But you’re my hero—my fellow discordant diva and
compatriot in madness. So dragons that spurt
Pythagorean Theorems may soar overhead while
together we break a Milano with a grin.
by Sarah Dzida (2001)
Author’s Note: This weekend I brunched with a friend who admitted she wrote pun-ny poetry, and the example was for a mathematical friend. This reminded me of this poem I wrote for my math major roommate oh-so-long ago! I promised her a poem, and this is what happened.
The Milano reference is the due to the fact that we ate A LOT of Pepperidge Farm Milanos in that dorm room.