ECE Valentine's Day poem contest winners
Thank you to all who participated in the ECE Valentine's Day Poem Contest. There were so many entries, the judges could not decide on just one. Below are the winning poems.
Winning poem #1
"Me Too" - her Valentine's day
Rita Singh
Roses are red, violets are blue
and orchids come in every hue
But you my love, are a treasure trove
Of colors that only some can see
Beyond the haze of decency
You call upon all birds with a song
Correcting for them, what others did wrong
Becoming for each, their only one
Every call, secretly sent
To mean more than was actually meant
A treasure trove, of political love
Algorithmic plans, conditional rules
If trapped proceed, if not then maim
By showing the world a partial game
Of one sided love, where you are above
All blame, so very demure and tame
Because you can, you rule the day
No matter what she ever could say
You’d wave a wand, and wish her away
She has no voice, you took it away
By weaving your plans, that very first day
As magic mosaics, that change their scene
The moment you wave a different theme
So you are a God in the public eye
And on this day, I say with a sigh
Roses are red and violets are blue
But maybe they are on your to-do list too
All that is lovely, tender and true
In this world, is lost on you
You’re a wizard, your craft can do
Her maximal harm when she says “me too”
Maybe she’ll die or maybe she’ll live
In shame for ever, for no one will give
Her flowers, or love for even a while
No gifts, no glances, not even a smile
You wave your wand, and then she wears
Invisible clothes that shame her, and tears
Invisible too so no one can see
Her pain, her sorrow, except for me
For I came from where such schemes are rare
But people know, they can be so
So every time you made a move
I wrote it in words that always are true
Like “roses are red and violets are blue”
In colors I bring, that still carry through
So here they are, in letters and runes
In prose and in verse, in sketches and tunes
Winning poem #2
Sparks
Emily Ruppel
Roses are red, violets are blue
I was waiting for sparks, and my dreams came true
We met months ago, at the Open House,
but then you were hidden in Hamerschlag for a tape out
In Spring we reconnected, and at a Pirates game I met you.
If only I'd thought not to invite my sister too…
A real first date was in order, Noodlehead is always a good bet,
and before very long we were talking neural nets.
We took many walks, in the summer that followed,
debating FPGA's and ASICS down Panther Hollow.
Like giant nerds we ran off, to see the solar eclipse.
It was well worth the drive all the way to St. Louis.
The fall was a blur, but I'll never cease to be impressed,
you pulled it off, you made it through your defense!
And now that it's winter and excess electrons abound,
it's no wonder that there are frequent shocks to be found
We've got so much Potential that I can't say I mind,
when the air breaks down and charge jumps from your hand to mine.
But don't worry- we'll stay grounded, no over-voltage warning here.
It's just what happens when you love an engineer.
Winning poem #3 (tied)
Moments
Mario Berges
Roses are red,
violets are blue
if you give me a moment
I'll reveal it all to you
A moment of joy
or a moment of sorrow,
statistical moments
and/or any that follow
If a moment of these
is what you are going through
then you've reached the right sphere:
I'll multipole it for you
Especially if your moment
is of the abstract kind,
a second or a third;
e.g., kurtosis comes to mind
Then it's your duty, my dear,
to share it all, come clean,
as I'm a master of moments
and my raw one is mean
So bring me your zeroth,
your first,
or your sixth
saddest moments;
your emotional history
as the poles
of your journey
I will show you the shape
of your tried and true soul
and the higher-order truths
that will, again, make you whole
Winning poem #3 (tied)
Untitled
Tyler Vuong
Roses are red
violets are blue
my love for you is like schrodinger's cat
except both states are that i love you