Dancing with Chaos

by Patricia Monaghan

Patricia Monaghan is known to many readers for her many books on feminine deities, including The Goddess Companion, Seasons of the Witch, and The Goddess Path. But she is also a very accomplished poet. Poetry and physics dance in this collection, inspired by metaphors drawn from chaos theory and quantum mechanics. Mathematics can graph the heart's chaotic rhythm, but this poetry moves with that rhythm. From the strange attractor who disrupts life's laminar flow to the mysteries of sensitive dependence and hurricane in space/time. Dancing with Chaos links science and poetry in a passionate tango. Patricia Monaghan grew up in Alaska and now teaches at DePaul University in Chicago. She has won a number of prizes, including the Friends of Literature Award for poetry and the Alaska State Fellowship for poetry and fiction.

Genres: Poetry

Paperback

First published April 1, 2003

About the author

Patricia Monaghan was a poet, a writer, a spiritual activist, and an influential figure in the contemporary women's spirituality movement.

Reviews

[Janée Baugher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was heartbroken to have heard about this author's dead in November 2012. Poems on chaos theory, quantum mechanics, mathematics, and the environment. Very imaginative! Many of these poems seem to marry the notion of romantic love with physical sciences. Also, interesting typographical decisions--this author takes full advance of the poetic form. Variety of poems: narrative, lyrical, short, long, projective verse, series, and couplets. To boot, an extensive glossary at the end of the book. Brava!