A math grad

Math’s a matter some make
More of than the norm. I’m
Thinking of a math grad
I shared a loft with for a time.
Who a while back had had a break-
Down, he once confessed from bed

To bed. Nothing he thought about
A lot… . He pauses. Then goes on
To speak, sane-seemingly enough,
Of a funny class of functions. One
Whose characteristic graph starts out
With the usual smooth take-off,

Somewhere along the line goes
Into a beauty of a loop-
De-loop for whatever reason, then
Picks its rising right up
Where it left off, and never does
Anything like that again.

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This article originally appeared in The New Criterion, Volume 27 Number 3, on page 27
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https://newcriterion.com/issues/2008/11/a-math-grad