THERAPI - Reviews (Compiled from LYRIQ issue 83- Mensa Poetry Magazine)

It's always saddening when you have to explain a poem. But I needed this explanation, not being a mathematician. I've always been fascinated by pi, though. All the same, I still don't fully understand, wondering how each group of numbers corresponds to each line of works. (...) I'll have to digest it a bit more. Such ingenuity leaves me gasping! Pi, being endless, perhaps suggests, with the 'infinity' sign at the end, that therapy is never finished?   (A. Claybourne)
(Spot on! - E.H.)


Combining a talent for mathematics with a similar literary talent is, of course, not new. We have only to read Lewis Carroll and note the framework of his two major works to marvel at such precision in terms of formulated construction and precise use of English. However, we need not be aware of the mathematical element to appreciate the literary talent. If we consider your poem based on the first 100 decimal places of pi, this clearly has a strict framework on which to build. Unfortunately, however, the lines struggle to make sense and frequently fall apart in confusion. I admire your ambition, but would suggest that so strict a structure all but prevents any literary appreciation.   (T. Wren)
(Shouldn't that then suggest the 'therapy' isn't working??? - E.H.)


NOW you tell us! I'm sorry, but it was too clever for me without the explanation. With the explanation it's much more enjoyable and very inventive!   (E. Dent)