Practical Amazement

Practical Amazement

Mathematics is not a language but a place
A lovely setting for where I work
I’m  principal of the School of Practical Amazement
Where every pupil finds their special needs

Many arrived following desperate sex when
The mothers of invention
Joining the fathers of necessity
Birthed children of frivolity
Their grandparents thought them too foolish to live
They’re still wrong

Students compete to build joyful chaos
Class prizes awarded in play units
Infinitely divisible but never smaller

Today one made heaven from a grain of sand
We spiced it with anise and tried it for lunch
Soon she’ll peel pasta from oceans of waste
Perfect for convenience salads

Beginners create new sports and toys
Intermediates progress to civilizations
Seniors churn out planets
Not all great, but fun to make
All failures recycled to stardust

Our best graduate to universe-making
A tough market since the lack of new dimensions
The unemployed dabble in cosmic jokes

I’ve too much work but great vacations
Visit Imaginary Cities which self-build in seconds
Pawnshops turn palaces
Nuclear fuel dumps Art Galleries
Cooking zero calorie feasts for the eye

I love this job more than sex
But yearn for simple time-travel
I’ll copy myself so I can retire
Become a play-writing sheriff in a small western town
Every saloon a six star restaurant

Why can’t others live like this?