Our Friend, Math—A Poem
Our Friend, Math—A Poem
by Esther Park
At first with momentum, I contend with much strife--
I enter the gates of a disciplined life.
There’s Cosine and Tangent and Secant plus Sine,
Must recall all the cubes, the hardest for nine.
A churning, a bobbing, a path that is woven;
I can’t stop mid-’quation, I must till it’s proven.
Aim higher than high in my mental outreach;
Afraid I can’t do it. “Look up!” I beseech.
What’s done is the ton of past piles that I’ve penned:
Addition, division, and powers of ten.
Worn numbers and terms hope for ‘ternal escape,
But all my mistakes figure into His shape--
His shape for my future, His form for my hope
That’s so overtaking, I can’t stay afloat.
In the whale of a problem that has me all stressed
Is the Savior-Solution, the Logic of mess.
X's and y’s and the terms to combine--
In math I see Christ- most holy, sublime.
Revelation is sweet, and it comes at the end:
We’ll meet with our Answer, our Infinite Friend.
Esther Park serves as Chairman of the Mathematics Department at Chapel Field.
