Stems and Leaves: Poems Inspired by Programming

This collection follows my emotional journey of learning to program from the insecurity I felt entering a field I had no prior knowledge in to the anger and frustration I felt at not being able to grasp specific content and finally to the joy I felt in understanding material and the love I developed toward the field. Structurally, I pair traditionally formed love poems with the emotional trends expressed in my free-form metaphor-based programming poems.

I designed my poems to be accessible to someone with little to no programming experience, but also to serve as fun puzzles for those who may be more experienced in the realm of computers.

I hope it can resonate with other people struggling in the early beginnings of programming, but also with people who may be struggling in other academic areas, learning how to balance the love of the subject with the difficulty faced in exploring it.