Day 29 - By The Numbers

image created by Amy McGrath on WordArt.com

As a self-proclaimed number nerd, I couldn't wait to share this prompt with you! Birthdays, anniversaries, identification numbers (driver’s license, social security, etc.), speedometers (and speed limit signs!). Numbers are everywhere and we use them for many things. Love them or hate them, there is no denying the need for numbers in our world. Whether you’re a mathematician or a numerophobe, today’s prompt is all about the numbers.

Perhaps in your culture, a number holds a particular meaning for you. Britannica has some information about number meanings across different cultures. Some of them are:

1 - unity
2 - duality
3 - spiritual/mystical
4 - universal
5 - human life
6 - perfection
7 - lucky
8 - auspicious
9 - pain/sadness
0 - nothingness

You could choose to write about your life path number.

Below is a list of numbers that I know have specific connotations. Maybe one of them will lead you to today’s poem!

11:11
404
13
Pi
e
phi
Planck’s constant
Avagadro’s constant
Speed of Light
Gravitational constant
Boltzmann’s constant
Absolute Zero
Tau (6.28 = 2pi)
Euler’s Identity
i

WORD PROMPTS:

numbers
numerology
mathematics
calculation
counting

Remember that our prompts are only suggestions - go wherever the muse takes you.
In the meantime, read other participants' poems, share the #OctPoWriMo hashtag on social media, and add a link to your own poem in the comments below.

Amy McGrath is a poet, fiction/non-fiction writer, and visual artist. She is a volunteer at The Muse Writer’s Center in Norfolk, VA and a co-facilitator of the Poets on the Page blog and Facebook group. When she’s not writing or painting, she has been known to appear in local community theater musicals and occasionally shows up for karaoke nights. She is currently painting a series of portraits of her ancestors, both biological and adopted, and she is working on her outline for this year’s NaNoWriMo project. She is the mother of two teenage boys and lives with her husband in Virginia Beach.

Poetry Prompt Day 23: Number Theory

A page from my art journal

You knew it was going to happen. The former math teacher turned poet/writer/word artist would have to go there. Yes, my fellow poets, today our focus is numbers! Now before you roll your eyes, panic, and run screaming from the room, allow me to assure you that your writing today has nothing AT ALL to do with "Math" (unless you want it to, of course!)

 Let's face it. There is not a day that goes by that we don't encounter numbers in some way. Look around you. Think about the last drive you took, bus you rode on, purchase you made. We cannot function without them. They are on our calendars, in our phones, along our highways. We use them as markers of important days and remembrances of special years. They keep track of the pages in our books and remind us when we're running late. Numbers are everywhere.