Fractals and Folds
“To be whole is to be part; true voyage is return.”
- Ursula K. LeGuin
Timeline origami.
Seam meet seam.
Unbelievably, a mallard
sees 360 degrees. Oblivious
to fore and back. Merely
a body among
a water body among
an earth body.
The leaf of
the leaf of
the fern
is a fern.
I’m going through a BIG LeGuin phase. She was so dedicated to subverting expectations with character, form and social organizing. I love this idea of to be whole by being part. I’m thinking about how we might reshape stories to better accommodate this truth.
Imagine how different you would think of the world if you saw in all directions at once… how differently you would place yourself in the world. D loves the phrase “water body”, shoutout D.
Something about each of these stanzas tries to unbalance the reader, a kaleidoscope effect. It’s about perception and how that shapes our thinking.
The last stanza is a little play on Gertrude Stein’s “a rose is a rose is a rose” but also more descriptive of fractals. (Lots of great stuff about fractals by adrienne maree brown). As seen in the image, each leaf of the fiddlehead fern is also a full version of the fiddlehead fern. Each is a whole, however, together they make a whole…
I’m deep in the poems of Cold Mountain right now… paradoxes and deceptively large wisdoms everywhere. Can you tell?
Thank you for reading.