How to Defeat Chaos 

David de Young

Start by giving up. Then 
soldier on 
through cold greater

 than can be thought
and dull pain, towards 
the unavoidable 

end. Clean as you go
and teach your children
to make their beds.

Let chaos
envelop
the city, your friends, 

everything. 

Take heart the mountains 
will crumble to the sea,

planets plunge into stars,
and still
dark fire

awaits. You are
so small as not 
to matter, yet 

in this moment
(this now that moves), greater 
than the cosmos.

Learn to dance
where the rules 
do not apply.

The Science

Chaos, in a scientific context, refers to deterministic behaviour in complex systems that appears random due to extreme sensitivity to initial conditions. Small differences in starting points can lead to vastly different outcomes, making long-term prediction practically impossible despite the system following fixed rules. As entropy increases, systems naturally move from order to disorder.

The Poet

David de Young was born in Illinois. He received a BA in English from Grinnell College in Iowa and an MFA from NYU's low-residency program in Paris. He wrote about music for many years in Minnesota for his website HowWasTheShow.com. He moved to Finland in 2012, where he now lives with his wife and three children. His poems, many of which explore the theme of entropy and eventual chaos, have appeared in Anthropocene, Ninetenths Quarterly, Full House Literary, Deep Overstock, and Narrative Magazine.

Next poem: Love Letters from Entropy by SL Walsh