Here’s an double tanka on Euclid’s algorithm (for finding the greatest common divisor of two numbers), executable as a Scheme program. My notes indicate that I wrote it during a tedious teleconference.
(define gcd
(lambda (m n) (if (zero?
n) m (gcd
n (remainder m n))))) ; Look!
; Falling leaves unveil the tree.
; Two integers stand.
; They divide, m’s ghost remains.
; As autumn passes,
; n succeeds m, floating down.
; Zero reveals the great truth.
This reminds me of a poem I once wrote in DOS commands. I called it ‘batch fugue’. Long live technical poetry!
I love the idea of a ‘batch fugue’! In fact, that’s more or less how the fugal exposition is constructed: call
theme1.batin the first voice; when it finishes, calltheme1.batin the second voice andcntrthem.batin the first . . . .