A Chaos Theory

                        Ante mare et terras et quod tegit omnia caelum
                        unus erat toto naturae vultus in orbe,
                        quem dixere chaos: rudis indigestaque moles
                        nec quicquam nisi pondus iners congestaque eodem
                        non bene iunctarum discordia semina rerum. |1|

                                    —with spinster goddesses in the middle of things

circling     looms.

                                                (Who?)

—with spinster goddesses

                                                (No, which set?)
                                                (z = z^2 + x):

                                                            if
                                                            (
                                                                        z = {moirae} and
                                                                        x = {eris}
                                                             )

                                                            then
                                                                       mandelbrot = {∞}
                                                            else
                                                                       mandelbrot != {∞};     

 She-Who-Draws-Taut     She-Who-Measures-Square     She-Who-Cuts-Dead-on-Target
they weave fabric to fight     the cracking chill in their teeth

                                                (No, tooth. Singular.)

                                    —that was the Graia     not us.

                                                (Re-iteration.)

Our masterpiece     they whisper     star-cloth to replace our fractal |1|
dresses     creatures to breathe praise into the void. |2|

|1|         P. Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses.
|1|         In this case, (x = x^2 - a). The hole-to-thread constant is approximately 4.669211660910299067185320382047.
|2|         For the purposes of this poem, the author has identified the void with a eötvös (read: "KUT - vush") number. It is dimensionless and used to calculate flow patterns, droplets, and bubbles. Symbolized "Eo." Ovid defines it thus:

            EO - march on, advance, leave, go.

                                    —Go.

As they spin     so does their sister     dancing to break her shivers.

                                                x != {eris}
                                                (She never was.)

She hears the looming shuttle     stops mid-step.

                                                mandelbrot != {∞}
                                                (It never does.)

How dare they end the dance?

                                                (Let's try again.)
                                                (z = z^2 + x):

                                                            if
                                                            (
                                                                        z = {kauket} and
                                                                        x = {tiamat}
                                                             )

                                                            then 
                                                                        mandelbrot = {spider woman};

She-Who-Exists-Before-Light     She-Who-Swells-in-Oceans     She-Who-Weaves-Signs
The results don't match     can't match     check the math     change the set

                                                            if
                                                            (
                                                                       z = {kali} and

She wars against        design |3|
                                                                       x = {am-no-tanabata-hime-no-mikoto}
                                                             )

                                                            then ...

                                    —The circle tightens 

This art     Chaos     our body and blood. |5|
Behold the warp. |8|

|3| Lanij and Lewoj, lesser gods of the Marshallese, claim responsibility for all unique animal patterns.
|5| They also introduced this art to humans in the form of tattooing.
|8| The word for tattoo in Marshallese is "eo."

                                    —Go.
She-
                                           (Who?)

-sheds her threadbare gown     arches her back in the living cloak

                                                            then 
                                                                      mandelbrot != {∞};

                                                            (Keep adding anyway.)

As she turns     the fabric ripples like surface tension

                        Sex mihi surgat opus numeris, in quinque residat:
                        Ferrea cum vestris bella valete modis.
                        Cingere litorea flaventia tempora myrto,
                        Musa, per undenos emodulanda pedes. |13|

|13| Ovid, Amores, Epistulae, Medicamina Faciei Femineae, Ars Amatoria, Remedia Amoris.

and poets peer at the weave—