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

Self-Portrait as Don Quixote

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Ruth at there is no such thing as a  godforsaken town for Roundup.

Charles and I are excited to be traveling to Chicago to deliver the keynote (Monday!) at the NCTE-NCTM Joint Conference! Educators, we look forward to sharing this time with you!

This week's ArtSpeak: PICASSO features Don Quixote. I've always felt a certain kinship with Don Quixote, and perhaps Picasso did, too! Yes, I've read the book...and one of my favorite musicals from childhood was Man of La Mancha. 

And—fitting for the Poetry Friday before Father's Day AND this month's 9 year anniversary of my father's death—I shall never think of Don Quixote without thinking of my father. He was a DQ fan for sure! Papa was a dreamer, an adventurer, a lover of freedom, and a firm believer in helping those in need. He gave all those things to me, and I remain deeply grateful.

Self-Portrait as Don Quixote

by Irene Latham

Days bleed
into dream—
I cannot discern
what is real,
   what is not.
I charge forward
alone
    and not alone.
What you call
madness,
I call
    freedom!
Never before
have I kissed
such winds.

Picasso Speaks of Poetry

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Buffy Silverman for Roundup.

It was my honor to contribute again to David Harrison's "Poetry From Daily Life" column. This time I wrote about things I've learned about life from reading poems. Maybe you will recognize some of the lines I selected to share!

Today's ArtSpeak: PICASSO is (again!) in Picasso's voice. For some reason, he started talking about math...and poetry! 

Does it make sense? Do the metaphors hold up? Does it have anything to do with the art? 

Maybe, maybe not! And that's okay. So often I write what I most need to hear, so perhaps my subconscious is encouraging me to loosen up, follow the wild threads, let the poem be what it wants to be. Thanks so much for reading!

Picasso Speaks of Poetry

A poem is at least half geometry,
the rest is quantum physics.

If we are made of starstuff,
then a poem is a black hole.

For every flower I paint,
a galaxy crashes into a windowpane,
lost.

What kills a poem?
Algebra, calculus.

So stop counting.
Stop thinking.

Hurl yourself into a summer sky.
A poem is nothing
if not infinity.

- Irene Latham