She Needs No Server 

Annee Lyons

Chaos writes in ciphers—
 her changes set changes in motion.
 She does not arrive.
 She is already the room.

Her changes set changes in motion—
 not wrath, but feedback.
 It rearranges the room,
 this pattern still unfolding.

Not wrath, but feedback,
 like a hair’s breadth or a wingbeat.
 This pattern already unfolding,
 before we name it theory.

Like a hair’s breadth in a wingbeat,
 not prophecy, but recursion.
 Before we name it theory,
 it has already mapped the future.

Not prophecy, but recursion—
 she moves like models run anew.
 We have already mapped the future,
 then the market turns on a joke. 

It moves like models run anew—
 a child’s finger to the glass.
 When the market turns on a joke, 
  we bend another branch.  

That child’s finger on the glass,
 a system splitting on a breath.
 It bends another branch, 
 and still, we walk new fields.

It all splits on a breath—
 we fly through those fields,
 chasing her trace in our lines.

The Science

Chaos theory explores deterministic systems that, while governed by precise rules, behave so sensitively to initial conditions that long-term outcomes become effectively unpredictable. Chaotic systems reveal underlying patterns: repetition, self-organization, interconnectedness, self-similarity, and continuous feedback loops. Unlike randomness, chaos is structured - it can be modeled, predicted in the short term, and leaves measurable traces. Scientifically, chaos contains a complex order.

The poem draws on images connected to chaos theory, such as the butterfly effect, to reflect the behavior of nonlinear systems, where small differences in input can lead to disproportionately large changes in outcome. Shifting pronouns - she, we, it - mirror the self-organization and entanglement that characterize chaotic systems, suggesting a world where the force, the observer, and the unfolding pattern are inseparably linked. The pantoum-like form, with its recursive structure and evolving repetitions, reflects the tension within chaos between predictability and divergence. The final stanza, which breaks from the four-line quatrain and omits the traditional return to the opening line, gestures to the branching quality and long-term unpredictability of chaos. In these ways, the poem inhabits the deterministic yet unpredictable rhythm of chaos theory.

The Poet

Annee Lyons (she/her) is an American writer and editor living in London, England. This is her first published poem.

Next poem: Sparkle Brightly by Liam Holt