“Lonesome Limit”

Jerome A. White
July 2012

Commence Chapter One of the Calculus book
They let out a sigh after hardly a look
A cold abruptness, unkind and unnerving
They quickly dismiss you as undeserving

They doubt your worth, they question your merit
But you hold strong, steady in spirit
As they proceed, high in their hopes
In attempts to determine how much a curve slopes
Rise over run would feel so nice
But a secant line will never suffice
Tangential touch, soft and warm
Spurned by indeterminate form
Then like a spell or magic potion
You deftly resolve the difference quotient
From tangent point on, your legacy lives
For you gave birth to derivatives

[chorus 2x]
Lonesome Limit,
Of all the girls to come around
You’re by far the most profound
A regal queen yet to be crowned
My love for you, it knows no bound

Through power rule, products, quotients, and chains
They forge ahead boldly with prosperous gains
Extrema, inflections, explored unimpeded
They start to assume that you’re no longer needed
Cast to the side, you serenely observe
As they enter the region beneath the curve
The bounded area they wish to compute
In rectangular strips they carve up the fruit
Adding infinite slices, infinitesimally thin
Indeterminate form strikes once again
So to you they turn to rescue their fate
You smile and propose, “Let’s integrate”

[chorus 2x]

Open your books, class ain’t dismissed
Indeterminate form had me thinkin’ ya missed
End behavior of an endless list
Asymptotically close like you wanna kiss
Timeless like the Roley wrapped around my wrist
But them mean girls say that you don’t exist
Lonesome Limit, I insist, girl you’re in your prime
It’s a positive slope that we about to climb
At the critical point we can finally recline
Watch the sun dip behind the horizon line
A penny for your thoughts? Just toss me a dime
And we’ll take it to the limit one more time

Each chapter written in the Calculus story
Owes praise to you, deserving of glory
Beloved queen, revealing the unknown
Step forth and claim your place on the throne