Member's Room: Chaos and Starlight by Anna Drobek-Jenks

When coming to curate an anthology, we try to consider what feels honest to the current moment, what emotions are real and vulnerable and true. Yet we also look for pieces that have a real versatility to them, poems that can come to comfort you at different moments, in different circumstances. Anna Drobek-Jenks submission for the first post in ICWS Today highlights the kind of work that will be included in our anthology. It has the power to evoke a real sense of comfort and optimism looking forward (or skywards) While reading this I linked the use of chaos to the Greek 'khaos,' the void state preceding the creation of the world. While this poem is saturated in color, imagery and things, I am reminded ultimately of a malleable universe, through which hope can alter our perception, our imagination of the space around us.

Chaos and Starlight

Time stands still,

Days turn to weeks, to months to a year,

Though the sun has yet to rise,

And darkness has stolen precious moments,

We only have to gaze up.

The swirling clouds of silver starlight-

Chaos.

And in our post-impressionist reality,

The black night makes the stars shine brighter.

Van Gogh’s beautiful chaos.

Starlight in a black sky is but one thing-

Hope.

Make music with its silent lyrics in each step,

And while we dance in starlight’s chaotic glow,

We still have hope.

Anna Drobek-Jenks