Math

by Lib

Published February 21, 2019

E - Everyone

In 6. poetry 2018-2021

Oh my!
The horror
and the pain
of math.

Every time I try,
it gets worse
and worse,
and even MORE worse.

Every time I look at math,
it looks complex.
It looks useless,
it looks like,
math.

Oh my!
The horror
and the pain
of math.

It shouts at me,
thrashing it's numbers at me.
Telling me,
We are at war.

I wail,
I groan,
and crumple papers.

One second,
now I know!
distributive property is so easy!
Math says,
I told you,
only if you try,
you'll get better.

Oh my!
The horror
and the pain
of math.

What is it now?!
Math screams.
I do not understand,
proportionality.
What is it?

Wait!
I get it,
it was as simple as that.

Comments & reviews · 13
User avatar
deleted43
Comment
deleted43 commented Comment · Sep 17, 2022

an old piece, obviously, but very relatable! great job 👏

User avatar
LadyBug
Review
LadyBug wrote a review Review · Sep 16, 2022

Hello dear Libby, it's Jade here to give a review on your piece! Let's get into it!

Oh my is an iconic way to start a poem; you have caught my interest. I like how you weave in humor with little math references; it makes it a super cute poem. I like the repetitiveness with the slight adjustments to each new stanza. It makes it super easy to read.

The last stanza is such a mood, I let out a laugh at at that.

While I can relate to your poem so much, my biggest flex is that I'm good at math when I try. I really liked the almost immature way you framed this whole poem. I can almost imagine a kid in middle school groaning about slope or fractions!

The flow is good and your punctuation is consistent.

Keep writing!

Lib replied · Oct 18, 2022

bc i was a kid in middle school

no you told me you're 24

Lib replied · Oct 18, 2022

19 actually but ok

User avatar
Mageheart
Review
Mageheart wrote a review Review · Sep 5, 2019

I remember seeing this iconic poem in the literary spotlight, but I never reviewed it - so here I am to fix that mistake!

One of the things that I really love about this poem is the journey that the narrator goes on through this poem. The progression from not understanding math at all to understanding it perfectly felt natural, and also felt like an accurate representation of how my own struggles with math go. It often boils down to a long time where I don't understand anything, a sudden realization that things are simpler than they appear, and then a final, satisfying moment where I finally get a problem or unit down.

I also love your use of repetition, even if you weren't repeating the same lines like in "what did she do?" Using the same words and sentence structure for emphasis made the poem even more fun than it would have been.

If you want to revise this poem, I would suggest going through the punctuation. There's a couple of misplaced commas that you could easily fix by reading the lines out loud and pausing where you put them - then you can see where they work and where they don't. You can also try formatting this poem differently so it doesn't have "~" in between each line. You've probably learned how to do this since you posted your poem, but you can add single spaces (instead of the default double) by pressing shift and enter at the same time. You can use the single spaces for each stanza and the double for the breaks between them, but it's ultimately up to you if you want to do that!

Since I really did relate to this poem - and loved the humor of it - I wanted to end it with some of my favorite lines/stanzas.

Oh my!

The horror

and the pain

of math.


Every time I try,

it gets worse

and worse,

and even MORE worse.


Wait!

I get it,

it was as simple as that.


Awesome job on this poem, and happy #RevMo !

Image

Lib replied · Sep 5, 2019

Thanks so much for the review! <3

You're welcome!

User avatar
Casanova
Review
Casanova wrote a review Review · Jun 14, 2019

Heya Liberty, Casanova here to do a review for you. And I think that I will be doing this piece by piece instead of just an all over.

Oh my!

The horror

and the pain

of math.

~

Every time I try,

it gets worse

and worse,

and even MORE worse.

~

Every time I look at math,

it looks complex.

It looks useless,

it looks like,

math.


I have to admit, that I do like this all though I don't completely understand it. I always loved math growing up and it was one of my favourite classes (it was my focus in highschool, or well, I tried to make it so). I always loved it, so I really don't understand the horrors of it. Anyway, onward.

Oh my!

The horror

and the pain

of math.

~

It shouts at me,

thrashing it's numbers at me.

Telling me,

We are at war.

I wail,

I groan,

and crumple papers.

~

One second,

now I know!

distributive property is so easy!

Math says,

I told you,

only if you try,

you'll get better.


This last stanza here is me in a nut shell- Math is like that sarcastic friend who sits there smugly after telling you how to do something and watching you do it time and time again wrongly until you finally understand how you are supposed to do it. Anyway, onwards.

Oh my!

The horror

and the pain

of math.

~

What is it now?!

Math screams.

I do not understand,

proportionality.

What is it?

~

Wait!

I get it,

it was as simple as that.


Really one of the only things I hate about this poem is the repetition of the one stanza, although that is strictly just artistic style and everything, so I won't go into that in great detail.

This is playful, creative, informative, etc, so all in all I think that this is a decent poem, even if it isn't in the style I love seeing. Keep doing what you're doing

Sincerely,
Casanova

Lib replied · Jun 14, 2019

Thanks for the review. I understand why you wouldn't be able to relate with this, considering you loved math very much. I just flat out HATE math. I'd rather die than do math (I think that's a bit too far. I'll go with this: I'd rather have two more annoying siblings than do math).

Does the repetition of one stanza sound weird that's why you hate it? If that's it, tell me. And if that's not it, tell me what it actually is.

User avatar
GigiNicole17
Comment
GigiNicole17 commented Comment · May 2, 2019

that's hilarious, but it captures my true feelings towards math

User avatar
Horisun
Comment
Horisun commented Comment · Feb 24, 2019

I hate math, but it's actually my best subject. I also enjoy that time of the day solely because it's taught by my favriote teacher!

Lib replied · Feb 24, 2019

XD

Though, one time, there was a student playing with the cubes when he wasn't supposed to, so she grabbed it from his desk, and threw it across the classroom!

Lib replied · Feb 24, 2019

whaaaaa....! XD

User avatar
secretrose29
Comment
secretrose29 commented Comment · Feb 23, 2019

Maths is the subject I’m worst at; I feel your pain!

I like your sense of humor in this poem, you are so sporting! I think it flows very well too; if you could find a chance to recite it at on open mic it would be great!

Usually in a review I would tell writers how they can improve and give my personal suggestions.....but this poem of yours is too good. I’m not being overly flattering; I’ve never actually said this to any writer before.

You did an amazing job, I will probably review more of your pieces in the future! If you ever need a review, just leave me a message; if I’m online here I’ll gladly do it for you.

With best wishes for your future,

secretrose29

secretrose

User avatar
secretrose29
Review
secretrose29 wrote a review Review · Feb 23, 2019

Maths is the subject I’m worst at; I feel your pain!

I like your sense of humor in this poem, you are so sporting! I think it flows very well too; if you could find a chance to recite it at on open mic it would be great!

Usually in a review I would tell writers how they can improve and give my personal suggestions.....but this poem of yours is too good. I’m not being overly flattering; I’ve never actually said this to any writer before.

You did an amazing job, I will probably review more of your pieces in the future! If you ever need a review, just leave me a message; if I’m online here I’ll gladly do it for you.

With best wishes for your future,

secretrose29

secretrose

Lib replied · Feb 23, 2019

Thanks! Can you look into all my poems? And give them reviews? Thanks again.:)

User avatar
OofOof1
Comment
OofOof1 commented Comment · Feb 22, 2019

First of all, I like the repetition you gave us in this poem. Second of all, I don't think the exact same way for math, but math can be hard sometimes. I liked how in this poem you express your feelings really well which sensory language and figurative language. Great job!

Lib replied · Feb 22, 2019

Thank you. This is just my experience with math, I know some people who DROOL over math which is crazy to me, but, we've all got different opinions on everything! :)

User avatar
Teddybear
Review
Teddybear wrote a review Review · Feb 21, 2019

Hey! I'm not super experienced when it comes to poetry, so bear with me here as I attempt to review this piece.

Now that that little disclaimer is out of the way, I'll say that you captured the general feeling of trying to do math pretty well. The frustration, then the "WELL-DUH" moment, then back to utter befuddlement. So, good job.

The only critiques I have are with...everything else. Your rhyme scheme and general rhythm were inconsistent and unappealing, to put it bluntly. Maybe next time you can try to be more careful with the syllable counts and rhymes.

But yeah, good job, just a few critiques, I don't know what I'm doing, I'm gonna stop now. That sentence was grammatically incorrect, but I don't even care. I care a little. A lot. Shush.

Lib replied · Feb 21, 2019

Thanks for the review! It was kinda hard for me to do rhyming stuff but I'll try again. :)

User avatar
Bellarke
Review
Bellarke wrote a review Review · Feb 21, 2019

Wow! First off, I dont know how I am going to review this. This was so well written, and just....wow. MIND. BLOWN.

I want to just say that there was great use of word choice in this poem!!!

You did so well.

I love how you have a whole stanza just about how much of a pain that math is to you!! I thought it was amazing.

SOME HELP:

"Math says,

I told you,

only if you try,

you'll get better.
"

In stead of the Italics, I would have actually put it in quotations marks, but since the thing speaking, MATH, is not an actual thing, I can see where you are coming from, and it is simply up to you. Just a suggestion.

"Telling me,

We are at war.
"

Like I said above, you dont need these Italics, it can just stay the way the others are, normal. Because it is not really talking to you.


THE commas, there is an over-usage of commas, which I tend to do, as well. There are so many at the ends of sentences that it makes your poem seem kinda choppy if you look at it, or say it out loud. I would not use them as much as you did, again, just a suggestion.


I hope this didnt sound mean, or rude.

OVERALL:
I loved this, it shows how aggravating math can be. Personally, I like math, and I am good at it. I ALSO DID THIS REVIEW WHEN I WAS IN GEOMETRY! XD

~Liz

Lib replied · Feb 21, 2019

Thanks for the review! <3 I'll fix the comma thing. :D

User avatar
Fantascifi66
Comment
Fantascifi66 commented Comment · Feb 21, 2019

Haha this is literally me but opposite since our teacher gives us WAY to easy math questions, which weird enough, nearly NO-ONE is able to answer. Except for one guy, one girl, and sometimes, me. I do not claim to be fantastic at math, I mean, I know some things, but our class is developed to HATE math. It's the least favorite class at our school.

Lib replied · Feb 21, 2019

Lol, I'm home-schooled, and I use a site called Khan Academy so the math I do feels like grade 12 math, maybe even advanced university math. XD

User avatar
Lib
Comment
Lib commented Comment · Feb 21, 2019

GO CRAZY ON THE REVIEWS, PLEASE! THANKS.



Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.
— Albert Einstein