Wednesday, October 28, 2020

New Poetry by Paula Reed Nancarrow










Q.E.D.

- for Lilabet

I cannot prove the triangles congruent
though they sit neatly inside the circle
their sides a radiant X: Isosceles twins.
A bow tie. A butterfly. 

You sit at our dining room table
plotting it out for me: 
This is given.             That is self-evident. 
Your chestnut hair tumbles over your face

hiding your acne. Tiny holes remain
in the table’s surface from my old
Spirograph. In the quiet privacy 
of your mind, you see the logic of shapes. 

My noisy brain makes twins rubbing
noses.  A bow tie.  A butterfly. 
It is all simple deduction
except for what we begin with: 

A point has no space.  
A line has no breadth.
A plane has two dimensions 
and goes on forever.

Angles are inclinations. 
Chords incline toward what is 
demonstrated. Ergo I am given
you. Over and over, 

like Anne Sullivan at the pump,
you spell postulates into my hand 
until suddenly - fresh and clear and cold –
Elegance overwhelms me.


- © Paula Reed Nancarrow 2020


Paula Reed Nancarrow is a poet and storyteller living in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Paula has told stories at the Minnesota Fringe Festival and the Moth Grand Slam at the Fitzgerald Theater, and has read her poetry at Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts and the Loft Literary Center. She has a doctorate in Victorian religious literature from the University of Minnesota but has always managed to find work anyway. 

4 comments:

Beth Spencer said...

Paula, What a lovely poem. Thank yyou so much for sharing it

Kari said...

I love this poem so much! Thank you, Paula. Brava!

matt morley said...

Beautiful, Paula.

Paula said...

Thank you, all!