Children are taught
Not the beauty of Maths
Nor its elegance
Just some jugglery
And conjuring tricks

If you can choose
A matching pair of socks
From five assorted socks
Of two different colours
In a drawer of a dark room
There is no earthly need
To make it
Seventy five socks
Five colours
Three drawers
Two dark rooms

There is Poetry in Maths
(And Maths in Poetry)
But our children are trained
To learn
Both Poetry and Maths
By rote

The one who figures out that
The difference between
3 squared and 2 squared is 3 + 2
Hey! Between 10 squared and 9 squared is 10 + 9
Wow! This pattern goes on forever
Is making a discovery for himself

When he is told
Dismissively
Condescendingly
Superciliously
Oh, yes, that is a special case of
a squared - b squared
You are throttling his enterprise
Killing his joie de maths

Instead of
Fearlessly exploring the jungle
On his own terms
The child is taught
To get from A to B
By the shortest route
Using Google maps

What a shame!