Chaos is a broad topic that, in poetry, refers to occasions when things don’t go as planned. A situation might be spiraling out of control; someone might be experiencing a cascade of contradictory emotions, and much more.
A chaotic situation is any situation in which it’s hard to keep track of all the troubling and sometimes very stressful elements it is composed of. For example, poets might imbue their depictions of relationships (romantic or familial) with chaos. Two people may struggle to communicate, fight constantly, and do nothing to resolve their issues, only making them worse in the process.
Often, in chaotic poems, the writer mimics the situation their describing in the way they compose their lines and rhymes. Their rhyme scheme might begin and end suddenly, the capitalization may be sporadic, or they might use lines of very different lengths for seemingly no reason.
‘Rubble’ by Jackie Kay is a dramatic monologue that was included in her collection, Darling: New & Selected Poems. It conveys an individual’s cluttered and chaotic mind.
What was the thought that I just had in my head?
(…)
the broken heart. The world outside is breaking
The sun, today –
it leaks desperation,
Gunmetal droplets of perspiration
‘Rehabilitation’ explores the pain of the refugees after the Partition of Bengal. With stark imagery, it delves into the lasting impact of this tragic event.
Whatever I had around me
Grass and pebbles
Reptiles
Broken temples
‘Corsons Inlet’ is a complex, nuanced poem on the natural world and the character of reality by one of the major American poets of the latter half of the 20th century.
I went for a walk over the dunes again this morning
to the sea,
then turned right along
the surf
‘The Storm-Wind’ by William Barnes contrasts peace and danger with images of home and a terrifying storm. The poem emphasizes how much easier it is to appreciate the safety of home when the conditions outside are so inhospitable.
When the swift-rolling brook, swollen deep,
Rushes on by the alders, full speed,
And the wild-blowing winds lowly sweep
O'er the quivering leaf and the weed,
And the willow tree writhes in each limb,
Over sedge-reeds that reel by the brim —
‘Air Raid’ by Chinua Achebe is a poem that provides a glimpse into the Nigerian/Biafran Civil War using symbolism and dark humor.
It comes so quickly
the bird of death
from evil forests of Soviet technology
A man crossing the road
‘Week-night Service’ creates a vivid scene of a church at night. The sound of bells disturbs the otherwise quiet church yard and the nature that surrounds it.
The five old bells
Are hurrying and eagerly calling,
Imploring, protesting
They know, but clamorously falling
‘After Death: Twenty Years’ reflects on a country’s stormy history and current despair, contrasting it with Tagore’s unwavering dreams of humanity.
All the terrible catastrophes
Escaped your eyes
You did not burn in the tortuous fire of '46
The famine and the epidemic
‘I have never seen “Volcanoes”’ by Emily Dickinson is a clever, complex poem that compares humans and their emotions to a volcano’s eruptive power.
I have never seen "Volcanoes"—
But, when Travellers tell
How those old – phlegmatic mountains
Usually so still –
‘Often I Am Permitted to Return to a Meadow’ by Robert Duncan is often regarded as the poet’s best work. It analyzes the poet’s dream of a meadow while also exploring the new technique of projective verse.
as if it were a scene made-up by the mind,
that is not mine, but is a made place,
Heaney’s ‘Personal Helicon’ draws inspiration from his rural carefree childhood and intimate connection with nature.
As a child, they could not keep me from wells
And old pumps with buckets and windlasses.
I loved the dark drop, the trapped sky, the smells
‘Go to Ahmedabad’ shows the psychological struggle of an immigrant dealing with disturbing past events and contemporary issues with newly developed views.
Go walk the streets of Baroda,
go to Ahmedabad
and step around the cow dung
but don’t forget to look at the sky.
‘Rhapsody on a Windy Night,’ with its spooky mood and setting, captures the tortured and fragmented human psyche amidst a destructed modern world.
Twelve o'clock.
Along the reaches of the street
Held in a lunar synthesis,
Whispering lunar incantations
‘The Sea and the Hills’ by Rudyard Kipling depicts the ocean, its heaving waves, incredible winds, and ever-present danger. It has evoked longing in men throughout time and will continue to do so, just as one longs to return home.
Who hath desired the Sea? - the sight of salt water unbounded -
The heave and the halt and the hurl and the crash of the comber wind-hounded?
The sleek-barrelled swell before storm, grey, foamless, enormous, and growing
Stark calm on the lap of the Line or the crazy-eyed hurricane blowing -
‘My Grandmother’s Houses’ by Jackie Kay is a thoughtful recollection of youth and a young speaker’s relationship with her eccentric grandmother, who is forced to move homes.
She is on the second floor of a tenement.
From her front room window you see the cemetery.
‘Sunday’ by Gillian Clarke was inspired by the poet’s personal experience of attempting to enjoy a Sunday morning but then being reminded of all the suffering that’s going on in the world.
Getting up early on a Sunday morning
leaving them sleep for the sake of peace,
the lunch pungent, windows open
‘Dreams’ by John Henry Dryden presents a vivid illustration of the ways in which dreams are steeped in paradox and irrationality.
Dreams are but interludes which Fancy makes;
When monarch Reason sleeps, this mimic wakes:
Compounds a medley of disjointed things,
A mob of cobblers, and a court of kings:
‘Gathering Leaves’ is a profound poem that delves into the themes of man versus nature, productivity, and change.
Spades take up leaves
No better than spoons,
And bags full of leaves
Are light as balloons.
‘Latin & Soul’ by Victor Hernández Cruz conveys the sublimely affecting power of music on a group of dancers.
some waves
a wave of now
a trombone speaking to you
a piano is trying to break a molecule
‘Blades’ uncovers the impact of a racially charged childhood experience, delving into a child’s fears, and guilt bewilderment.
When I was about eight, I once stabbed somebody, another kid, a little girl.
I’d been hanging around in front of the supermarket near our house
and when she walked by, I let her have it, right in the gap between her shirt
‘Close Shave’ explores the fragility of life by highlighting the myriad dangers that surround us every moment of our lives.
A plane roars above
rattling the loose sheets of the roof.
Clearly he hears the click-click
of the barber’s cold shears
‘Domestic Peace’ laments a transformed household, contrasting external calm with internal desolation, emphasizing the profound impact of emotional connections.
Why should such gloomy silence reign;
And why is all the house so drear,
When neither danger, sickness, pain,
Nor death, nor want have entered here?
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