Poetry is the mathematics of literature. Many students suffer from “poetry anxiety,” which operates on the same logic as the more commonly talked about “math anxiety.” This anxiety involves a hands-off, get-that-away-from-me style of learned helplessness: “I can’t do it,” “I don’t understand poetry,” or “I prefer subjects with rules and clear answers.” Although children start out with a playful, delightful experience of language as “primarily poetic,” they too often learn to drag their feet when it comes time for a poetry unit in school (Fleming and Stevens 160). And no wonder. Poetry, like math, often makes students feel inadequate, slow, and stupid, particularly when many of their peers seem to be able to effortlessly navigate the ambiguities of poetry. As Sheila Tobias argues, however, this perception is usually incorrect. She describes how a major source of learned helplessness with math is the “widespread myth…that mathematical ability is inborn, and that no amount of hard w