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Poem: Calculations


Calculations

The algorithm slips her
videos of smiling monkeys,
confused cats, dancing frogs, 
and dogs speaking of bacon.

She glimpses reels by
the Metropolitan Opera,
the Freelancers Union, and
Encyclopaedia Britannica,
but skips ahead to

Heart some snakes in wigs,
erratic emus, a pig named Bikini,
cockatoos flapping to Queen, 
her pocket-sized theater of the absurd.

Deadline unmet, errand not run, and
the room echoes with her laughter.

Susan Thomsen, Draft 2025

*****

This week Donika Kelly's "Poem to Remind Myself of the Natural Order of Things,"  a serious work with a powerful turn, inspires us to use something we saw online (a meme, a popular Internet video, etc.) and write from there. Others are giving this prompt a go, too; I am keeping a list here. You will ❤️ these poems.

Michelle Kogan
Karen Edmisten
Linda Mitchell
Mary Lee Hahn
Margaret Simon
Patricia J. Franz
Tanita S. Davis

Plus, there's more! See Carol Labuzzetta's blog The Apples in My Orchard for the entire Poetry Friday roundup on November 14th.

“Dromaius novaehollandiae—Maroparque,” by H. Zell. Via Wikimedia Commons. Used under a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license.

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38 responses to “Poem: Calculations”

  1. maryleehahn Avatar
    maryleehahn

    “pocket-sized theater of the absurd.” Perfection! And that final couplet: Truth!

    I love that you picked not one, but ALL of them in this clear-eyed montage. My post will go live tonight. Like your room, mine was filled with laughter in the writing of my poem!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  2. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
    Susan.Thomsen

    Mary Lee, thanks so much. I can’t wait to read yours! This was a fun challenge to work on; I got really stuck until I changed the point of view from first person to third.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  3. Poetry Friday: Don’t Obey – A(nother) Year of Reading

    […] Remind Myself of the Natural Order of Things” . Susan’s response to her own challenge is here. This was so much fun! I can’t wait to see what others came up […]

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  4. Michelle Kogan Art, Illustration, & Writing Avatar
    Michelle Kogan Art, Illustration, & Writing

    Your closing couplet sound like my life, and I love the laughter coming from her, it’s contagious!☺️

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  5. margaretsmn Avatar
    margaretsmn

    I love the escapism of a funny video. I joined in today with an after Donika Kelly poem, but not about a viral video. Thanks for the prompt.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      Yay, Margaret! Donika Kelly wrote a great mentor poem, and I’m glad it spoke to you.

      Like

      Reply
  6. rosecappelli Avatar
    rosecappelli

    Sometimes you just have to laugh! Thanks for this, Susan.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      So true. And you’re welcome, Rose! Thank you for reading.

      Like

      Reply
  7. jama Avatar
    jama

    Love your poem — thanks for the much needed laugh today. It all sounds too true, about nothing getting done with all these online distractions. I feel like an erratic emu myself. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      Haha. Me, too, Jama.

      Like

      Reply
  8. tee+d Avatar
    tee+d

    Oh, I love the laughter. There’s no such thing as wasted time if it’s time spent with joy. This is lovely.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      “Time spent with joy” is indeed a gift, as are kind words from friends. Thanks for dropping by, Tanita! I hope your weekend is splendid.

      Like

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    2. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      Tanita, your poem is such fun and full of great words, like “silent klaxon blaring.” And the turn! Yes, ma’am, that’s the way to do it. (I tried to comment on your blog, but I suspect my log-in there has some spy-level layers that I can’t figure out.)

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  9. Doida Avatar
    Doida

    I love this word fest. I have one of those pocket sized distracters too, but your algorithms seem funner than my algorithms!

    Like

    Reply
    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      Doida, haha. It’s embarrassing how easily the algorithm can distract me sometimes. The other night I was mesmerized by someone who rescues and trains parrots. I neither have nor want a parrot, but the reels were fascinating.

      Like

      Reply
  10. Doida Avatar
    Doida

    I love this word fest. I think your algorithms sound funner than my algorithms…

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  11. cvarsalona Avatar
    cvarsalona

    Susan, your 3rd stanza caught my eye, “snakes in wigs”. Then the ending came. Deadline unmet, errand not run, and
    the room echoes with her laughter. Deadlines and errands are always hard for me to accomplish.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      Thank you, Carol! Those snakes in wigs were AI and so weird. Once I switched to the third person perspective, I thought about a freelance writer and missing a deadline. Not good! What does it mean to for this tiny device and its formulas to hold our attention for so long? I keep trying to figure it out…

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  12. theapplesinmyorchard Avatar
    theapplesinmyorchard

    Susan, This is a fun prompt. I’ve been focused on other types of writing lately but want to return to more poetry. I will have to give this a try. I love to watch a pet/cat/dog/rooster (whatever animal) video that includes humor. “Cockatoos flapping to Queen,” really brought an imagine to my mind! Thanks for the idea!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      You’re so welcome, Carol. It’s embarrassing to admit, but I have seen cockatoos flapping to music by many different bands. There may be a whole poem in that! Ha.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      1. theapplesinmyorchard Avatar
        theapplesinmyorchard

        There might be! A funny one too! I saw a crow doing a little dance in Yosemite this year, following a fellow hiker toward the bathrooms! It was funny!

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
        Susan.Thomsen

        Those little moments of humor are quite fun.

        Liked by 1 person

  13. Mona Voelkel Avatar
    Mona Voelkel

    Your poem made me feel like I’m not wasting my time when I’m looking at those adorable dog videos. The last couplet is a beautiful turn that brought me to a room with your laughter. So lovely and timely, and what a powerful prompt, inspired by Donika’s poem! Thank you, Susan!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      Some of them really are so funny, right? Thank you for reading. Poetry Friday is my virtual water cooler, and I enjoy hanging out and talking with everyone.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  14. softly0c3ae78287 Avatar
    softly0c3ae78287

    “her pocket-sized theater of the absurd” -YES – it is! Too funny, Susan, and too true! Thanks for the prompt, which I wasn’t together enough to have seen, but I’m so enjoying everyone’s poetic responses. :0) –Robyn HB

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      You are welcome for the prompt, Robyn. Sometimes I get more done when I have a deadline, and was happy that I made this one. Ha.

      Like

      Reply
  15. Alan j Wright Avatar
    Alan j Wright

    Such an image filled list of digital distractions and delights, Susan. It isn’t a solitary phenomenon. For my wife, I would include scenes of frollicking baby elephants. I love your opening reference to the algorithm.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      Oh, yes, baby elephants are so dear. Thanks for the nice words, Alan! Today the algorithm is sending me parrots.

      Like

      Reply
  16. Karen Edmisten Avatar
    Karen Edmisten

    “Heart some snakes in wigs” made me laugh out loud, Susan. And I love “pocket-sized theater of the absurd.” Your final line made me think of the way my daughters and I keep each other laughing in our group chat.

    Thanks so much for this prompt!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      I’m so glad you liked it, Karen. Don’t you love laughing like that with your friends & family! Initially, I was thinking about writing about the Portland frog too, and somehow the poem turned into this. But Mary Lee has that frog covered. Yay.

      Like

      Reply
  17. Linda Mitchell Avatar
    Linda Mitchell

    I do go for a good cat video…thanks for the challenge and all the giggles! The dancing frog takes the cake, though. Well done.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      Linda, truth be told, it all started with cat videos for me. Remember the one with the printer? 🙂 Thanks for visiting and for reading.

      Like

      Reply
  18. mbhmaine Avatar
    mbhmaine

    What a great response to your prompt! That final couplet wraps it all up so well! “Heart some snakes in wigs” was a great line, too! There’s so much to love here, and I’m sorry I didn’t get in on the fun. I’ve been wrapped up in snarky teacher reels/videos these days. Maybe there’s a poem there? Hmmmm….

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      Molly, there’s definitely a poem in those teacher reels. Thanks for reading and for your nice words. This was fun to work on—and a bit more of a challenge than I’d thought!

      Like

      Reply
  19. Denise Krebs Avatar
    Denise Krebs

    Susan,

    so fun! Sometimes I am that she in your poem. That last couplet is a smiling-bringing delight!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      Aw, thanks, Denise! I just read a prose poem by Harryette Mullen about essentially the same thing; it’s called “As I Wander Lonely in the Cloud.” Ha. Maybe there’s an online link for it. I’ll look. (Update: I can’t find it online, but it IS in The Best American Poetry 2023.)

      Like

      Reply
  20. Tabatha Avatar
    Tabatha

    Susan, you reminded me of a John Agard poem so I looked it up. I just love the ending.

    PRAYER TO LAUGHTERby John Agard

    O Laughter
    giver of relaxed mouths

    you who rule our belly with tickles
    you who come when not called
    you who can embarass us at times

    send us stitches in our sides
    shake us till the water reaches our eyes
    buckle our knees till we cannot stand

    we whose faces are grim and shattered
    we whose hearts are no longer hearty
    O Laughter we beg you

    crack us up
    crack us up

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      I love that! Thank you. The last two lines = chef’s kiss!

      Like

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