In this article, we explore the reading and writing of mathematical poetry from our experiences as mathematics teacher educators. First, we outline how our own engagement with mathematical poetry encouraged us to incorporate it into our teaching of pre-service teachers. We describe how our initial disappointment with the mathematical content of the pre-service teachers' poems led us to rethink what it means to read and write mathematical poetry. The article reflects on authentic engagement with mathematics and we propose that students can engage in the continual and collective process of knowing mathematics by reading and writing poetry.