I being more science minded find that often, science and math people, like myself, can get into a mindset that everything needs to follow from some rule of science and math. We don’t always allow ourselves just to sit back and observe what is happening around us, we want to try to be hands on and make something happen. Reading poetry can help you relax, but also make you think about what you are reading. A lot of poets draw inspiration by simply sitting back and observing what is happening in the world around them. They can then beautifully reflect their observations into their poems. Scientists, and everyone really, need to have an understanding of the little things that make the world beautiful. The little things such as an encounter between a farmer and a mouse, a view looking out across the English channel, or a piece of Grecian pottery. This poem I think helps reflect why scientists should read poems (they might gain a friend).
“The Poem”
Let’s put it under a microscope one said
and see what we can see.
Then we can dissect its inner meaning
whatever that may be.
Hold on for a moment I said,
as they began to start,
rather than pick its brain
let’s get to know its heart.
We sat down to talk face to face
it taught us beauty, it taught us grace,
each word it presented carefully in place.
And when our conversation drew nigh,
so as to never have to say goodbye,
I folded it and in my pocket put it
and every so often I take it out to talk a bit.
One similarity that I would like to note between science and poetry is the emphasis on everything being in its proper place. Like an experiment where every step needs to be performed meticulously to get the desired result, every word in a good poem seems to fit perfectly in its place.
I will leave you with a “scientific” poem I wrote in around first grade.
Jupiter has a red spot
Venus is very hot
The sun is hot
Pluto is not
