When I first read about this particular Zeno’s paradox – the dichotomy paradox – I was intrigued, and awed by the coolness factor of it. And then I discovered this poetic form it inspired. So factor in the point that September 25th is Math Storytelling Day, it made sense to feature this form today while attempting to tell some math stories, or stories with this mathematical poetic form.

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Poetic Sundays: The Zeno (Inspired by a Math Story, Kind of)

J. Patrick Lewis invented this poetic form called the Zeno inspired by the mathematical “hailstone sequence”. It is named for Zeno, as the “hailstone sequence” hails from (well, not really, but couldn’t resist) one of Zeno’s paradoxes – the dichotomy paradox. I talk about that concept here. To give you a preview, getting anywhere involves first getting half way there and then again halfway there, and so on infinitely actually.

What is The Zeno Poetic Form?

It is a ten line verse form with a repeating syllable count of 8,4,2,1,4,2,1,4,2,1 with a rhyme scheme of abcdefdghd.

The Zeno’s Characteristics

So the Zeno’s elements are that it is:

• a poem of 10 lines
• syllabic: 8/4/2/1/4/2/1/4/2/1
• rhymed: rhyme scheme is  abcdefdghd

My Attempt at Math Stories

This first one is kind of a recipe fail..but here it is anyways!

Off-season
She went to get a cherry pie;
craved it, really!
But it’s
fall –
right now, which means
pumpkins
y’all,
or apples ev’-
-rywhere.
Bawl!!
~Vidya @ LadyInReadWrites

Recently

On My Blog and the Homefront

Looks like I outdid myself this last week!

• Sunday Scribblings #115: Dancing is Poetry of the Feet
• Exploring Success Through the Magic of Words
• Go Anywhere Literally: From Amazing Mountains to Awesome Beaches
• Beautiful Words of Gratitude and Peace
• Dear Diary – Here is a Day For Wonderful You
• Fabulous Festivals in the Fall

This past week was getting prepped up the Navratri festival on one hand while dealing with life on a daily basis on the other.

Upcoming (Maybe Some Math Stories too?)

On My Blog and On the Homefront

With this week being Navratri, I have been busy setting up my golu over the weekend and have some final touches to finish it up before sharing pics with you. Here is a pic from last year (and some more in my previous post of the week as well).

My posts will be a countdown of sort towards the end of Navratri (so math stories?) and share something about the festival each day.

Celebrations

Literary Celebrations (close-to-it also!)

• Literary birthdays this week include: T.S. Eliot, Mark Haddon, and on the 26th; Elizabeth Gaskell, Miguel de Cervantes, and Colin Dexter on Sept 29th; Elie Wiesel, Ta-Nehisi Coates. Rumi, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Jay Asher, and Truman Capote on the 30th; Austin O’Malley, Brian P. Cleary, Tim O’Brien, Julie Andrews, and Nicola Yoon on Oct 1st; followed by Graham Greene on the 2nd
• International Day for Universal Access to Information is on the 28th of September
• September 30th observes International Translation Day 
• October happens to be Celebrating The Bilingual Child Month and National Book Month 

Foodie Celebrations

• The 26th of Sept is National Dumpling Day and National Pancake Day
• While September 27th is National Chocolate Milk Day
• National Strawberry Cream Pie Day is on the 28th of Sept
• followed by National Coffee Day on the 29th
• And the month ends with National Chewing Gum Day and National Hot Mulled Cider Day
• October 1st is National Homemade Cookies Day and National Pumpkin Spice Day (well, of course!) as well as International Coffee Day and World Vegetarian Day
• The 2nd of October happens to celebrate a beloved candy for many for it is National Smarties Day. It also is World No Alcohol Day

Other Celebrations and Observations

• The 26th of September is the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
• While World Tourism Day and National Day of Forgiveness are observed on the 27th of September
• Celebrate the heart on September 29th with World Heart Day; and check out how you can promote heart health not only for yourself but for others too on the World Heard Federation site (linked earlier)
• Spread some heart around on Sept 30th as it is National Love People Day
• With fall foliage around us (if we are in the northern hemisphere), it is Orange Shirt Day on the 30th to help us be one with nature :)?
• This last week of September is National Keep Kids Creative Week.
• October 1st is World Smile Day (being the first Friday in October), so smile!
• The 2nd of October is National Name Your Car Day (:-))
• Oct 2nd also observes World Card Making Day (being the first Saturday in October) and International Day of Non-Violence (in commemoration of Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday)

Related Reads

•  With Love, A Letter to My Daughter (Sept 25th is Daughter’s Day, and it being the fourth Sunday of September, is also International Daughter’s Day)
• A recent interesting math story for young readers I enjoyed and shared is Fractions in Disguise: A Math Adventure

Wrapped Up: My Sunday Scribblings

So dear reader, you have reached the end of this Sunday Scribblings! As always, I welcome your thoughts, comments, and suggestions about this post. Will you be attempting to write the Zeno? Or any other math poem? What do you think of Zeno’s Paradox (es)? And, of course, do let me know if you plan to celebrate any of these mentioned celebrations this coming week/month?

Linking this to the Sunday Post over at the Caffeinated Reviewer and the Sunday Salon