Here are a few poems inspired by mathematics that I have written in recent times. Thought I would share!

A Smudge that fills the world!

I wrote this after taking a class on theoretical linear algebra, a year after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. A reflection of the dynamics of an epidemic, with some mathematical imagery.

I write with a pen
A fountain pen, royal blue in color
with the edges the color of ore
My hand slips
The ink drips
There’s a smudge!

It’s small, not to noticeable.
Not a big deal.
Or is it?

This is a special kind of paper.
A linear algebra paper.
And the smudge?
It just happened to be big enough
Big enough to be the dominant eigenvalue.

The spectral radius.

Now the generations pass
The rates adjust
What once seemed small is growing.

The smudge, that miniscule smudge, that bothersome smudge
that once was a tiny drop on the paper
Now fills the world.


November 17th, 2019: the first known case of COVID-19 is detected.
Today, November 17, 2020: 55.6 million cases, 1.34 million deaths, 1 world - our world will never be the same.

Magic of Monte Carlo

I wrote this after taking a class on algorithms. For my final project, I wrote a paper about monte carlo methods. This is a small poem considering the relationship between the place, Monte Carlo in in Tuscany known for its casinos, and the concept, Monte Carlo, referring to simulations, chance. Bit of a gamble.

At last we arrived, frazzled yet curious
Just a few skips inland of the mighty Mare Nostrum
A rag covering most of my eyes
But somehow I see more clearly than ever

The early afternoon mist is carried by a gradual breeze
Echoing with muffled murmurs of a not-so-distant past
The air grows heavy, burdened with yesterday’s memories
A carob tree rustles, prematurely pruned of its possibilities
Finally, when afternoon turns to dusk

The stumbling breeze turns to a fiery gust
Mist turns into mud, inside out and upside down
The hollowness of it all becomes inescapable
It didn’t take me long to realize that I was far from home