How to Write a Pi Poem–Past the First Zero of Pi

 

How to Write a Pi Poem–Past the First Zero of Pi (with Sample Piem)

 

Two of my goals in pi-poem writing this week were to craft a piem which would extend past the first zero of the mathematical pi and to achieve thirty-five poetic lines. In the sample pi poem below, you will find that I achieved these two goals. In a previously posted pi poem, I simply treated the zero as if it were not a part of the infinite numerals of pi: thus, I went from the thirty-second poetic line of five syllables to the thirty-third line of two syllables. In my “Keller” piem (below), I, instead, took the zero as representing ten syllables. Therefore, after the thirty-second line of five syllables, my thirty-third line contains ten syllables. Then, the piem closes with a line of two syllables and a line of eight syllables. If all this piem explanation sounds complicated or unnecessary to you, please simply read and enjoy the following poem or read my Wordwalk blog post of last week for the complete directions for writing a pi poem for Pi Day–March 14, 2016 (3/14/16). All of the following lines of this post are intended to be centered.

 

 

A Pi Poem for Keller:

 

My Leader Dog from March 21, 1990, until December 15, 1997, When She Died of Cancer

 

by Alice Jane-Marie Massa

 

 

My Keller,

guide,

acclaimed Leader

Dog,

golden retriever,

made March forever special for me.

 

Keller,

twenty-six years ago,

you came to guide me

and teach me

new ways and career.

 

“Find the door.” Yes, you knew the spot

and gracefully led me through each door

to classrooms of renewed hope,

to buildings of opportunities

which I thought

were lost

in the past,

to degrees of choices and change.

 

“Find the curb. Good.

What a good dog, Keller!”

You were

beside me at all times–

over the bumps,

hardest times,

funerals:

somehow your paws found a bright path.

 

“Find the chair.”

“Forward.”

You knew so many commands,

but what command you had of my heart

till you passed the leash

to another Leader Dog named Heather

who had

such perfect, golden paws to fill.

 

 

With forever thanks

to the puppy-raisers, trainers, support staff of Leader Dogs for the Blind,

Lions Clubs, and other contributors–

all of whom make possible the amazing Leader Dogs,

Alice and my third Leader Dog Zoe

 

March 9, 2016, Wednesday

 

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