Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Day 23 - OctPoWriMo 2013: Depth of Memory





Depth of Memory

Brains
stun me
How long can
one remember
Trinity 3-0-1-5-6, our aunt’s,

The family’s favorite, Aunt Gladys.
Her phone number
dwelling some
sixty
years

Hers
The first
memorized
Emergencies
could happen and kids might need quick advice



Today’s prompt: Write a number poem. The poem could be inspired by a favorite number or contain a number or be about numbers. I also used a new-to-me poetry form that was suggested, called Tetractys (pronounced to rhyme with malpractice).  It’s a five-line syllabic verse whose syllable count per line is 1, 2, 3, 4, 10. This poetic form was invented by Englishman Ray Stebbing. 

"Euclid, the mathematician of classical times, considered the number series 1, 2, 3, 4 to have mystical significance because its sum is 10, so he dignified it with a name of its own - Tetractys.”

I used a triple Tetractys in which the syllable count reverses in the second stanza.


8 comments:

  1. I had no idea that Euclid was the one to come up with the name Tetractys! How cool! Thank you for sharing this information and for sharing your take on the number prompt!

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  2. Nice! Very interesting spin on today's prompt! And I like the nostalgia of it.

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    1. Funny, Christine, I immediately went there when thinking about numbers. Thank you. xoA

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  3. Another learning curve. Thanks Annis! :D

    http://wp.me/p2Mm4H-fu

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  4. It is amazing how some things linger...old phone numbers, minutiae of the past. Very nice...and the form is interesting.

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  5. I found the form interesting, too. Thanks, Anna. xoA

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