Chaos Theory poem

 

photo by Laura Purdie Salas

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Carol at The Apples in My Orchard for Roundup.

Happy Summer Solstice! I have written so many poems about summer...and no wonder. What a wonderful season. Even though I do NOT love heat or sweating or mosquitoes or poison ivy.

Charles and I had a great time at NCTE-NCTM conference in Chicago! So many thanks to all the passionate educators (Ann Marie!) and poets (Laura!) and staff who made our visit a joy. Our keynote was titled "Mistakes Are Bridges," and indeed they are. Yay!

Question for the Poetry Friday Hive: Brooke at Inked Voices has invited me to teach another Poetry webinar. Yay!! 

What poetry craft topic would you most like to learn about? Beginning, Endings, and the Magical Middle? 8 Ways to Play with Poetry - structure, form, titles, setting, literary devices, white space? Revision strategies? 8 Ways to Amp Up Your Poem Fast? Crafting the Unexpected Inevitable? Or ??? I welcome your reply in comments or email: irene (at) irenelatham (dot) com. Thank you!! (and yes, I realize the number 8 came up twice there. Ha!)

This week's ArtSpeak: PICASSO is titled "Chaos Theory." It's after Las Meninas, a series of 58 paintings that Picasso painted in 1957 in an exploration of Las Meninas by Diego Velazquez. (Y'all. 58 paintings in an exploration of a single existing artwork. I LOVE that!)

Chaos theory, as I understand it, has to do with randomness and unpredictability. The example I like is the pinball machine. How there are all sort of laws about how a ball will behave, but it doesn't always do what you'd expect. 

How does this apply to my life, to poetry? 

I think it has to do with growing up not always feeling safe, and consequently developing a habit of looking to/inviting chaos as a means of distracting/protecting oneself from painful emotions. This poem documents a recovery of sorts. 

It's also a variation of a poem I wrote in celebration of creative chaos during my "red" year called "A Dream of Red."  

Essentially, I think both poems are about freedom.

Don't you love how in poetry something similar (here, red walls with randomness!) can yield such different poetic experiences? Thanks so much for reading!

Chaos Theory

once I courted
chaos

dipped my fingers
in red paint,
made a canvas
of every wall

these days
when chaos calls
I may marvel—

rapt, breathless

but soon
I label the itch
an itch

and gently
shut the door

- Irene Latham