The Monogon

[avram]

I wrote this the other night, inspired by a comment hanging off of one of holyoutlaw’s recent posts. I decided to let it marinate on my hard drive for a day or two, in the hope that I could make it a bit less awkward (that “vap’rous” in line 10 really clashes with the overall tone), but it doesn’t look like it’s going to get any better. Hey, I don’t think I’ve written a sonnet since high school.

The monogon has but a single side,
Drawn from one point to some more distant place.
Extended through imaginary space,
This segment from its distant end will hide.
And thus its mere existence is denied
From far end, where it seems not to exist.
While near end is unable to resist
Its pull and push, however rough the ride.
The far end, in whose view the half a side
Seems vap’rous as the root of minus one,
Is not to blame for damage that’s been done
By drawing lines with phantoms for a guide.
So plot your lines with x’es and with y’s,
And do not draw your shapes with only i’s.

Comments

[avram]

Actually, the true monogon has just one point. You can only build it with a geometry that allows curved lines. Good thing I wrote the sonnet before I decided to google for "monogon".

[kathrynt.livejournal.com]

maybe "flimsy" instead of "vap'rous"?

Or, if you really want the vapor thing:

The far end, in whose view the half a side's
Inchoate as the root of minus one,

plus you get the benefit of using the word "inchoate", pronounced "in-KO-ate", meaning "cloudlike, insubstatial, unformed," which was the Very First Vocabulary Word I ever had in school that I hadn't previously known.

[avram]

"Inchoate" looks pretty good. Where were you when I was hunting through the dictionary for synonyms?

[kathrynt.livejournal.com]

probably chasing the damn cat.

[redbird]

How about "misty" as a more modern word that means something close to "vap'rous"?

(I know, you didn't say this was a writing workshop. And it's your poem, so you get to ignore all our advice.)