Dramatis persona*
Helen Chick
I've always wanted a bumper sticker that said "I'm a female, LDS/Mormon, Scout leading, geocaching, piano-playing, bicycling, mathematics educator with a PhD in maths ... and I VOTE"! I think this makes me a minority group of cardinality 1!
* Since there's only one of me and "personae" is plural (I think), I've gone with dramatis persona.
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73. I Can’t
I’m here in a session on maths education
As part of some conf’rences now on day four,
To learn what kids think about function notation
And how good technology helps them explore;
And everyone seems to be paying attention
But I am quite certain that some of them aren’t,
While, at the same time, it’s my extra intention
To write a […]
There are a few things about Melbourne that I have missed since moving back to Tasmania over 18 months ago. Friends are the most significant of these, but I have to admit that there have been times when I have missed the ready access to a good hot chocolate.
I have been back in Melbourne this week, […]
72. Mischief Managed
Serried ranks
Of battered desks,
Their ordered rows
Mocked by the disorder of
Gangly teenagers,
Restless and rambunctious,
On the cusp
Of outright riot.
With eyebrow raised
In stern rebuke,
A laser-guided stare
Across the room
Nails one target
Then another.
Noise subsides
To mute respect.
8 July 2013
Comments: When I first looked at this theme, I was tempted to write, simply, “Sit down//Shut up”, but it seemed […]
71. Obsession
I try to hide the evidence
Of little quirks I know I have
Which those of you who know me well
Can name.
You’ll mention geocaching quests,
The petrol log book in the car,
And crazy plans to write
100 poems.
Yet most of these are passing fads:
Intensely followed for a time—
A month, a year, or ten—then
Given up.
But there’s one thing I can’t […]
70. 67%
67% it says,
67%;
I’m sure it’s really 2/3, you know;
2/3 is what they meant.
The difference is really minute, they’ll claim,
So small, you’d think it okay
To leave out the last of the decimals,
But I’ll be angry all day.
The fact is that it’s a recurring one,
Don’t you deny it’s not:
And so should be written properly
0.666…
2, 3 […]
69. Annoyance
So many things that I’m wanting to do
So many hobbies I’d like to pursue
So many friends for keeping in touch
So many side-tracks distracting me much
So many mem’ries I’d like to recall
So many bushwalks and mountains so tall
So many promises I’d like to keep
So many nights when auroras don’t sleep
So many songs that I’m longing to […]
68. Hero
Each morning you rise
And step into the day,
Greet warmly the cherub
Who is not the child
Of your dreams,
Whose needs—
So demanding—
Take all that you have
And are
And a little more,
And define and refine you.
Yet still you find strength
To take one step forward
And fight two steps back,
To stand firm and to give,
To care and to love,
To face today’s challenge
So […]
67. Playing the Melody
We, the o’ershadowed
Musical salt of the earth,
Are resigned to our fate
As unacclaimed
Harmonic anchors.
We live for that rare
And glorious moment
When limelight is ours;
For the singular bars
When altos have the tune.
27 June 2013
Comments: I am actually singing tenor at the moment, because that’s where there’s a need in the choir in which I […]
66. Traps
Friends Piglet and Pooh,
Wanting something to do,
Made plans to pursue
A Heffalump, so they could see one;
They decided to sit
And, after a bit,
A Very Deep Pit
Seemed perfect for getting the job done.
They dug their big hole
And hoped to cajole
While out on its stroll
The Heffalump to go a-falling.
They thought that a pot
Of honey they’d got
Would soon make […]
65. Horror
Not spiders,
Nor snakes,
Nor leeches;
Not darkness,
Nor blood,
Nor creatures;
A little of heights,
And ticks you can’t find,
But greatest of all
The vulnerable mind.
25 June 2013
Comments: I have to admit I am quite fond of my marbles, and do have a worry about losing them. Strictly speaking, I guess this is more about “Fear” than “Horror”. Oh, well […]
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