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Poetry at Work Day: Math, Science, the Moon (well, Asteroids)

By Will Willingham 16 Comments

Poetry at Work Day 2016
If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the last four years celebrating Poetry at Work Day it’s that each year it looks a little different. Sure, many things stay the same. The day is always lush with haiku and limericks (even a few NSFW, ironically enough on Poetry at Work Day) and plenty of would-be odes to the end of the day. But each year also takes on its own little character, through no planning of anyone in particular, except perhaps the universe.

And when we say the universe, this year we really mean it. We were delighted to see such participation from the cosmos, or at least from those who work in the study of it. OSIRIS-REx, the NASA mission seeking sample material from the early Solar System on asteroid Bennu, posted three poems about its mission proving that writing form poetry (a cinquain, really) can in fact be rocket science:

A little something I've been working on between tests at @LockheedMartin. #PoetryAtWorkDay #limerick #AstroPoetry pic.twitter.com/kWOotic5fX

— OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) January 12, 2016

An ode (or really a limerick) to the cameras that will act as my eyes. My second installment for #PoetryAtWorkDay pic.twitter.com/0eidGAn7Ja

— OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) January 12, 2016

This one goes out to everyone working the late shift. #PoetryAtWorkDay #cinquain #AstroPoetry pic.twitter.com/6IxqU84JLz

— OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) January 13, 2016

Not to be outdone by NASA, OCR Science featured a triolet on petrology, seismology, and glaciology (with a nod to geometry):

@BritGeoSurvey A triolet written on the petrology, seismology and glaciology of Katla #poetryatworkday pic.twitter.com/By014uFYVq

— OCR Science (@ocr_science) January 12, 2016

In another corner of the STEM universe, Chris Hemedinger at SAS wrote about the intersection of programming and poetry, observing that haiku in particular may appeal to programmers because “it demands a specific syntax.”

Happy Poetry at Work Day! Fun on SAS Support Communities #PoetryAtWorkDay https://t.co/GOD2kZETuN pic.twitter.com/oUQA8lBekg

— Chris Hemedinger (@cjdinger) January 12, 2016

There was a poem about chemistry:

It's Poetry At Work Day. Here's a little poem about Chemistry… I think… pic.twitter.com/KWxgx5VklC

— OSU_Chemistry (@OSU_Chemistry) January 12, 2016

The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center got in on the botanical poetry:

Erasmus #Darwin wrote abt tech innovation & #science discoveries & theories https://t.co/eELw2ntXV7 #poetryatworkday pic.twitter.com/15sfOW5XCQ

— SmithsonianEnv (@SmithsonianEnv) January 12, 2016

And Shay Moser of Insight Education offered The One-Two Punch: Poetry and Nature Breaks featuring a Software Sonnet and a Hardware Haiku.

Happy #PoetryAtWorkDay! Take a look at our #Software #Sonnet and #Hardware #Haiku. https://t.co/pVADxld7o8 pic.twitter.com/luW0mRGWJp

— Insight Education (@Insight_Ed) January 12, 2016

Please don’t ask me to use tephrochronology as an end word in a sestina.

Retweeted tspoetry (@tspoetry): @E_E_Evans @BritGeoSurvey @ToScALondon there should be more poems in the world about tephrochronology 😉

— ToScA (@ToScALondon) January 12, 2016

The celebration of Poetry at Work Day unfolded in less scientific ways as well. Here are some of our favorite moments, starting with a little prickly Texas heat:

Oh, how I would like to see a porcupine up in a tree. Here's one near Matador, TX #PoetryAtWorkDay pic.twitter.com/kauN0IAZ6O

— TX Parks & Wildlife (@TPWDparks) January 12, 2016

While Chemung County Historical Society’s Mark the Mammoth wrote poems all day that you could shake a tusk at:

Mark! A Mammoth’s Milestone; Ordering Themed Haikus #PoetryatWorkDay

— Mark the Mammoth (@MarktheMammoth) January 12, 2016

The Ice Age came, The Ice Age went, But I’m still here. #PoetryatWorkDay

— Mark the Mammoth (@MarktheMammoth) January 12, 2016

Apologies if you don't like poetry or mammoths (if so, what kind of monster are you?!?), but my #poetryatworkday are coming fast & furious

— Mark the Mammoth (@MarktheMammoth) January 12, 2016

Colleges, libraries and booksellers made a good showing (not to mention Twitter Books):

It's #PoetryAtWorkDay. See why American #poetry inspires Harvard professor Elisa New: https://t.co/UpLTH7fxfN pic.twitter.com/lvBIdoSPuO

— Harvard Extension (@HarvardEXT) January 12, 2016

Today is national #PoetryAtWork day … show us your mad rhyming skills in 140 characters or less! *keep it clean* pic.twitter.com/R5VdSuu497

— McNeese (@McNeese) January 12, 2016

Did you know it's #poetryatworkday? What poems are you reading in between those emails? https://t.co/i4RwCQMfAj

— Twitter Books (@TwitterBooks) January 12, 2016

9 Collections of Excellent Poetry to Get You Through Your Workday https://t.co/ZWrm6AGufg #poetryatworkday

— Penguin Random House (@penguinrandom) January 12, 2016

It's #poetryatworkday so stop on in for hot drink and book of poems! #poetry #work… https://t.co/3Fwk0YT7ZW

— B&N Christiana Mall (@BNChristiana) January 12, 2016

For Poetry at Work Day: What Work Is by Philip Levine : The Poetry Foundation https://t.co/C9hdihKP9C

— Mabou Library (@MabouLibrary) January 12, 2016

It's #PoetryAtWorkDay, and we have free poem postcards from #poetryonloan at most Staffordshire libraries! pic.twitter.com/ZCv0BJHw2p

— Staffs Libraries (@StaffsLibraries) January 12, 2016

And I do believe that poetry would be nothing without coffee, coconuts, and donuts (and maybe even strawberry pancakes from my childhood’s Saturday morning breakfast spot):

The last Donut ???? #haiku #poetryatworkday #subscriptionbox https://t.co/TsuVCUCw5R pic.twitter.com/4WNk6SGWw2

— Generation-A (@GenerationA_uk) January 12, 2016

Suddenly Tuesday Doesn't seem so bad at all: Someone brought bagels. #Haiku #PoetryAtWorkDay

— Starbucks Doubleshot (@doubleshot) January 12, 2016

Apparently it's #poetryatworkday. pic.twitter.com/d5YMjZzZe5

— Coconut Merchant (@coconutmerchant) January 12, 2016

#PoetryAtWorkDay? Breakfast is true love, That’s why we serve it all day, And have for years now.

— Perkins® Restaurants (@EatAtPerkins) January 12, 2016

On the other side of the globe, the Scots joined in with a haiku challenge:

We're writing #Scots haiku for #poetryatwork day. Have you seen our challenge for schools? https://t.co/espKsgxiBp https://t.co/X4oVTRklxH

— Eco-Schools Scotland (@EcoSchoolsScot) January 12, 2016

@tspoetry Bramble and black berry Twa wirds fer the same wee fruit Guid tae eat in Cranachan #scots #haiku #poetryatworkday

— Eco-Schools Scotland (@EcoSchoolsScot) January 12, 2016

Scotland’s Young Reporters for the Environment joined in:

#poetryatworkday our theme #GlobalGoals #identity #migration "I remember my tongue shedding its skin like a snake… pic.twitter.com/EEmy1gaFpZ

— YRE Scotland (@YREScot) January 12, 2016

And even UNESCO’s City of Literature Edinburgh, recommended you read some poetry at work:

It's Poetry at Work Day. Therefore we recommend that you read some poetry at work. https://t.co/vdvp5yXHi8 pic.twitter.com/8LhUTkruEk

— City of Literature (@EdinCityofLit) January 12, 2016

Much of the spirit behind Poetry at Work Day is the encouragement to find the poetry that is already in your work, and your workplace. And we also encourage folks to bring poetry to work. Quite literally. Like this:

YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THIS DAY BEFORE THE DAY IS DONE! NATIONAL POETRY AT WORK DAY! https://t.co/m4nEWWbNGg

— What Day Is It? (@HmmWhatdayisit) January 12, 2016

Of course, some people don’t take us quite so literally. At least, the Late Show with Stephen Colbert didn’t take literally our plea for a poem from the CBS salt mines.

Today is Poetry at Work Day! Which is redundant for those of you laboring in the sonnet mines. #LSSC

— The Late Show on CBS (@colbertlateshow) January 12, 2016

And so, without a poem from Colbert, we, along with the Irish Poetry Shop, went back to our own sonnet mines and poems that don’t work.

Poetry at Work Day ends. Back to poems that don't work, Like a normal day.

— IrishPoetryShop (@IrishPoetryShop) January 12, 2016

Photo by 白士 李, Creative Commons license via Flickr.

Learn more about Poetry at Work Day

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Poetry at Work, the Book—by a Fortune 500 Leader

Free Ebook Poetry at Work Cover

Poetry at Work, by Glynn Young, foreword by Scott Edward Anderson

“This book is elemental.”

—Dave Malone

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Will Willingham
Will Willingham
Director of Many Things; Senior Editor, Designer and Illustrator at Tweetspeak Poetry
I used to be a claims adjuster, helping people and insurance companies make sense of loss. Now, I train other folks with ladders and tape measures to go and do likewise. Sometimes, when I’m not scaling small buildings or crunching numbers with my bare hands, I read Keats upside down. My first novel is Adjustments.
Will Willingham
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Filed Under: Math-Science-Technology, poetry and business, Poetry at Work, Poetry at Work Day

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About Will Willingham

I used to be a claims adjuster, helping people and insurance companies make sense of loss. Now, I train other folks with ladders and tape measures to go and do likewise. Sometimes, when I’m not scaling small buildings or crunching numbers with my bare hands, I read Keats upside down. My first novel is Adjustments.

Comments

  1. Maureen says

    January 14, 2016 at 11:22 am

    I love that the the science professionals joined in.

    ‘Twas Tuesday and Colbert delayed
    to set loose words for Poetry’s day.
    His mind on night work he kept away
    Aye, laddie, with mammoth and Irish we played.

    Reply
    • Will Willingham says

      January 14, 2016 at 5:15 pm

      We should’ve told Colbert that if he didn’t ante up with a poem he’d be put in one. 😉

      Reply
    • Donna says

      January 14, 2016 at 7:33 pm

      AH! I love this! 🙂

      Reply
  2. L. L. Barkat says

    January 14, 2016 at 11:55 am

    Maybe the universe sensed poetry waves when we did Math, Science & Technology! 🙂

    https://www.tweetspeakpoetry.com/category/math-science-technology/

    What a fun wrap-up. I loved the fair dearth of Roses Are Red poems this year (though there were actually some clever ones) and the movement into brainy poems.

    Such fun, as always. And such great surprises, seeing who comes along for the poetry work ride each year.

    Reply
    • Will Willingham says

      January 14, 2016 at 5:16 pm

      Indeed, it was a very fun day with a particular intelligence about it throughout. Very pleased. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Donna says

    January 14, 2016 at 11:56 am

    This Poetry at Work Day was my favorite, so far… the most fun for me! 🙂 Congratulations on such a successful and poetic day!

    Reply
    • L. L. Barkat says

      January 14, 2016 at 12:39 pm

      So glad it was the most fun. (Maybe Physics Joe had you smiling, too? 😉 )

      Reply
  4. L. L. Barkat says

    January 14, 2016 at 12:54 pm

    Oh! And I love that Twitter Books showed up too 🙂

    Reply
  5. Callie Feyen says

    January 14, 2016 at 5:12 pm

    I love these days. My students and I are reading Romeo and Juliet, and we are working on sonnets. I’d love to share some of their finished products.
    Looking forward to the next one!

    Reply
    • Will Willingham says

      January 14, 2016 at 5:14 pm

      Would love to see what your students come up with. You’ll have to let them know they’re now working in the ‘sonnet mines.’ 😉

      Reply
      • Callie Feyen says

        January 16, 2016 at 12:30 pm

        Ha! That’s great. I will make sure to post their work. Next week they are going to make their own “Queen Mab” sonnets. I can’t wait to see what they come up with.

        Reply
  6. Sandra Heska King says

    January 14, 2016 at 7:29 pm

    I loved Mark the Mammoth–and the porcupine from Matador. This was way too much fun.

    Reply
  7. Jody Lee Collins says

    January 16, 2016 at 1:23 pm

    Oh my, poetry at work has worked it’s way around the world and into the stratosphere. I found the lines from Carolyn Duffy on the poster from the folks in Scotland were very touching. (Probably because we went to see ‘Brooklyn’ last night..)

    What a delightful wrap-up! Well done, Tweetspeak team!

    Reply
  8. Diana Trautwein says

    January 16, 2016 at 7:19 pm

    Lovely wrap-up – thank you.

    Reply
  9. Eco-Schools Scotland says

    January 18, 2016 at 8:49 am

    Honoured to be included!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Top 10 Best Science Poems - Tweetspeak Poetry says:
    February 1, 2022 at 11:44 pm

    […] poetry is not rocket science, except to the extent to which poetry and science work together. Much of poetry is about science, […]

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