• Smithsonian
    Institution
  • Travel
    With Us
  • Smithsonian
    Store
  • Smithsonian
    Channel
  • goSmithsonian
    Visitors Guide
  • Air & Space
    magazine

Smithsonian.com

  • Subscribe
  • History & Archaeology
  • Science
  • Ideas & Innovations
  • Arts & Culture
  • Travel & Food
  • At the Smithsonian
  • Photos
  • Videos
  • Games
  • Shop
  • Art
  • Design
  • Fashion
  • Music & Film
  • Books
  • Art Meets Science
  • Arts & Culture

"Pattern and Snarl" – A New Poem by Amit Majmudar

Read the latest poem that was "inspired by a delight in design and pattern"

| | | Reddit | Digg | Stumble | Email |
  • By Amit Majmudar
  • Smithsonian magazine, September 2012, Subscribe
 

Life likes a little mess. All patterns need a snarl.
The best patterns know how best to heed a snarl.

Every high style, every strict form was once nonce.
The best way to save a snagged pattern? Repeat the snarl.

Eden used to snow in fractals, rain in syncopated runs.
Adam never imagined he would hear its seedlings snarl.

Tug the wrong thread, and your wool sweater vanishes at once.
Death pulls at a wisp of us—and just like that, it’s freed the snarl.

What is it about order that we love? This sense,
Maybe, that a secret informs the pattern?

Is it a toddler’s joy in doing things again?
Is it the entropy in us that warms to pattern?

I never intended this line to rhyme on again again.
Then again, sometimes it's the snarl that adorns the pattern.


Life likes a little mess. All patterns need a snarl.
The best patterns know how best to heed a snarl.

Every high style, every strict form was once nonce.
The best way to save a snagged pattern? Repeat the snarl.

Eden used to snow in fractals, rain in syncopated runs.
Adam never imagined he would hear its seedlings snarl.

Tug the wrong thread, and your wool sweater vanishes at once.
Death pulls at a wisp of us—and just like that, it’s freed the snarl.

What is it about order that we love? This sense,
Maybe, that a secret informs the pattern?

Is it a toddler’s joy in doing things again?
Is it the entropy in us that warms to pattern?

I never intended this line to rhyme on again again.
Then again, sometimes it's the snarl that adorns the pattern.

    Subscribe now for more of Smithsonian's coverage on history, science and nature.


Related topics: Poetry


| | | Reddit | Digg | Stumble | Email |
 

Add New Comment


Name: (required)

Email: (required)

Comment:

Comments are moderated, and will not appear until Smithsonian.com has approved them. Smithsonian reserves the right not to post any comments that are unlawful, threatening, offensive, defamatory, invasive of a person's privacy, inappropriate, confidential or proprietary, political messages, product endorsements, or other content that might otherwise violate any laws or policies.

Comments


Advertisement


Most Popular

  • Viewed
  • Emailed
  • Commented
  1. Will the Real Great Gatsby Please Stand Up?
  2. The Revolutionary Effect of the Paperback Book
  3. TKO By Checkmate: Inside the World of Chessboxing
  4. The Story Behind Banksy
  5. Never Underestimate the Power of a Paint Tube
  6. The Real Deal With the Hirshhorn Bubble
  7. A Brief History of Chocolate
  8. The Saddest Movie in the World
  9. When Did Girls Start Wearing Pink?
  10. Before There Was Photoshop, These Photographers Knew How to Manipulate an Image
  1. The Surprising Satisfactions of a Home Funeral
  2. The Story Behind Banksy
  1. Will the Real Great Gatsby Please Stand Up?
  2. When Did Girls Start Wearing Pink?
  3. The Measure of Genius: Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel at 500
  4. The Story Behind the Peacock Room's Princess

View All Most Popular »

Advertisement

Follow Us

Smithsonian Magazine
@SmithsonianMag
Follow Smithsonian Magazine on Twitter

Sign up for regular email updates from Smithsonian.com, including daily newsletters and special offers.

In The Magazine

May 2013

  • Patriot Games
  • The Next Revolution
  • Blowing Up The Art World
  • The Body Eclectic
  • Microbe Hunters

View Table of Contents »






First Name
Last Name
Address 1
Address 2
City
State   Zip
Email


Travel with Smithsonian




Smithsonian Store

Stars and Stripes Throw

Our exclusive Stars and Stripes Throw is a three-layer adaption of the 1861 “Stars and Stripes” quilt... $65



View full archiveRecent Issues


  • May 2013


  • Apr 2013


  • Mar 2013

Newsletter

Sign up for regular email updates from Smithsonian magazine, including free newsletters, special offers and current news updates.

Subscribe Now

About Us

Smithsonian.com expands on Smithsonian magazine's in-depth coverage of history, science, nature, the arts, travel, world culture and technology. Join us regularly as we take a dynamic and interactive approach to exploring modern and historic perspectives on the arts, sciences, nature, world culture and travel, including videos, blogs and a reader forum.

Explore our Brands

  • goSmithsonian.com
  • Smithsonian Air & Space Museum
  • Smithsonian Student Travel
  • Smithsonian Catalogue
  • Smithsonian Journeys
  • Smithsonian Channel
  • About Smithsonian
  • Contact Us
  • Advertising
  • Subscribe
  • RSS
  • Topics
  • Member Services
  • Copyright
  • Site Map
  • Privacy Policy
  • Ad Choices

Smithsonian Institution