{"id":9259,"date":"2024-04-07T01:19:49","date_gmt":"2024-04-07T01:19:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/?p=9259"},"modified":"2024-11-17T04:50:48","modified_gmt":"2024-11-17T04:50:48","slug":"chaos-theory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/07\/chaos-theory\/","title":{"rendered":"Chaos Theory"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Photo by kamila kawa on Unsplash<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Fare Forward Poetry Competition, Honorable Mention<\/h1>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Chaos Theory<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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By Sally Thomas<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Rummaging redbud leaves, the mock orange
Overgrown, flopped sideways on the fence\u2014
\u2003\u00a0The April afternoon grows slant and strange.
Massing stormclouds turn the light intense,<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Eclipse-like, unfamiliar. My own name
Becomes an incoherence when I sign
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The bottom of a check, a doctor\u2019s form.
I introduce myself. What do I mean?<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Chaos is not a theory. I mean, it\u2019s not
Just that, but a description of the real.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Patterns and repetitions in the knot
We call this life defy our patient skill<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 To pick it open, tie it back together
In some way that makes sense. Makes sense to us,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I mean\u2014to us, who try to read the weather.
My back-porch table holds a scattered cosmos:<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Disjointed, bleached-down deer-bone specimens,
Last year\u2019s wrens\u2019 nest blown down from the the eaves,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Split brown cicada shells, some blank-eyed snakeskins,
Brittle, tesselated. Heart-shaped leaves<\/p><\/div>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Unfurling on the understory trees
Cast shadows within shadows. My children\u2019s faces
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Turn up in photographs, each a surprise
I know by name. Say I set seven places<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For lunch, though there were only six of us
When everyone lived here. Then, our existence
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Was chaos. I loved it. And that seventh place?
I invented it just now, to make not sense<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But sound. I needed syllables. Say I did
Set the extra place, though. Why would I do
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A thing like that, unless the unexpected\u2014
Another child, a late-comer, a new<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Elijah at the window\u2014was the way
The world cohered? Perpetual resonances,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Crazings of experience, each day
Rising from its grave, its random promises<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lined up like children by a schoolroom door,
Wild spring weather outside answering
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The rhythmic murmurs of their hearts, and more\u2014
That\u2019s how it is. This thing is like that thing.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Sally Thomas<\/strong>\u2019s latest book of poems, Among the Living<\/em>, will appear from Able Muse Press in 2024. She is the author of a novel, Works of Mercy<\/em>, published by Wiseblood Books in 2022, and a forthcoming short-story collection, The Blackbird<\/em>, also from Wiseblood Books, and co-editor of the anthology Christian Poetry in America Since 1940<\/em>, which received Christianity Today<\/em>\u2019s 2023 Book Award in Culture and the Arts. As associate poetry editor for the New York Sun<\/em>, she shares the writing of a weekday Poem of the Day column.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Chaos Theory”
\nBy Sally Thomas
\nFare Forward Poetry Competition, Honorable Mention<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":9260,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,86,47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","category-issue-30-the-art-of-storytelling","category-poetry","entry","has-media"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farefwd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Photo-by-kamila-kawa-on-Unsplash.jpg?fit=1080%2C720&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9259"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9331,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9259\/revisions\/9331"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https: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