Circular Reasoning

Circular Reasoning

An Ode to Pi

Circular reasoning

Leads us to think

About infinite answers

(which leads us to drink).

But one thing is certain:

Divide area by

A circle’s diameter

Leaves you with pi.

In fact, you can use it

For all sorts of things

Like circumference and volume

Of spheres and of rings.

There's so much that

We can do with this guy;

Makes me wonder about

The origins of pi.

Did someone imagine it

From something they’d read,

Or like Newton’s apple, did it

Fall from their head?

Or maybe I'm wrong
In what I have said;
Maybe it happened
In this way instead:

A student of math cried,

“I think that it’s three!”

With their professor professing,

“It just cannot be!”

“There must be more to it,”

The teacher exclaimed,

(For simplicity makes

Mathematicians ashamed).

“It must be much longer.

Add a one. And a four”

And thus they kept going

Adding much, much, much more.

They wrote down a one

And a five and a nine.

The answer was starting

To look pretty fine.

Then they wrote down a two

and a six and a five.

This number was really

Starting to thrive.

Then came a three

And a five eight nine seven.

The teacher was now having

Thoughts of math heaven.

Meanwhile, the student’s

passion was gone.

“This number,” he thought,

“Just goes on on and on.”

“A nine! And a three!

And a two! One more three!”

The professor was shouting

As he danced with glee.

The student, at some point,

Snuck out the back,

But the teacher, undaunted,

Continued the attack.

“An eight! And a four!

“And then six two six four!”

He kept up the ranting

Behind his closed door.

“Three three eight three!

Two and seven nine!”

The mathematical coot

Was feeling quite fine.

As far as I know

He’s still at it today,

Writing digits forever

Or till his death anyway.

For an infinite sequence

Never will die.

Just pondering it makes me

Hungry for pie.