Euclidean Geometry
June 17 2009


We were taught
parallel lines go on forever
and never intersect.
That a point is dimensionless,
and exists in solitary splendour.

I find comfort
in this geometric universe.
So easily rendered
with straight-edged rulers,
my trusty compass
twirling on its needle-sharp leg.

And when they showed us
how glass, cut precisely
could split light,
give order
to the rainbow’s kaleidoscope,
we felt we had mastered
creation’s basic rules.

But they forgot to warn us
about fault lines
and pressure points,
how easily glass can break.
About the complications
3 dimensions make,
how all things change
given time.
And how light relieves the darkness;
but look straight into it
you are left momentarily blind.