20151225 (mathematics)

Why would I talk about 

Mathematics on Christmas?

Perhaps because my thoughts

On Christmas haven’t gelled

Even vaguely. Though I have

Hints, I’d rather save them

For now satisfied with the 

Mystery. Now on math we’ll

Start with what you know:

There are no numbers. Oh, 

You think so, show me a three.

Or if that’s not easy enough,

Show me a five. Don’t go 

Pulling cards from a deck. 

There’s no such thing as a 

Deck (not even that ten thousand

Dollar thing you paid to have

Built on the back of your

House) unless they’re wrapped

In cellophane or whatever

Impenetrable clear substance

They use nowadays. See

Decks aren’t things, don’t 

Grow up, mate, have baby 

Decks, like rabbits, who

Have beginnings and endings.

The best we can say about

Decks is they’re an aggregate,

A collection of things, joined

By touching or other proximity

Like a chain of islands. So 

While there may be no three

Out perambulating with her

Three young threes, there 

Can be three dogs, or three

Aggregates—like three nails,

Aggregates of iron molecules

And carbon molecules. We can

Thank our fingers and toes for

The decimal system. So,

Grasshopper, what have you

Learned?  That numbers are

But relations among things

We lump together in patterns.

None of the numbers are out

There in the universe even 

Though the relations of relations

We infer from the behavior

Of things seem to govern

What happens. Was that too

Fast for you? It was for me

For many years. But I can

See why. Powerful concepts

Are powerful because they

Can so easily confuse us

With their extent. Many wondered

Before you and me—Euclid,

Pythagoras, others too numerous

(Could be a pun) to name and

Beside them a cloud of

Con artist numerologists

Famous for taking the slightest

Coincidences and drilling

Through them to fly-by-night

Mysteries to separate you 

And me from our yen,

Drachmas, pesos, rubles, or

Dollars. But remember it’s

All in our heads, like the

Sides of an imaginary triangle

Which may or may not have

One hundred and eighty degrees

As you please.

c. J.S.Manista, 2015