Chaos Theory | Teen Ink

Chaos Theory MAG

November 14, 2008
By Anonymous

Carolyn says she believes in angels
while mascara spiders creep thickly along the
heavy baggage beneath her eyes like the
black pitch of the school hallways at night or
the charcoal that she dips her fingernails in and I
remember cheating on my math test that morning
So
I tell her I believe in people.

Roasted honey nut, the color she was born with but
you really wouldn’t know it because of the midnight L’Oréal
she chooses, tragically highlighted with Punk Pink or
Raging Red from a bottle and 15
minutes of waiting –
It spills limply over her black eyes whenever she leans down to write and
Carolyn says she believes in fate.

In planets aligning in the universe and
Feng shui that keeps mice away and prevents ulcers but also
makes a girl fall in love with a boy but
I know all about chemistry and hormones and catalysts so I
think I believe in science.

In reincarnation, she thinks she’ll come back as a bird
Or maybe a peacock and I say I agree when I
see those striped stockings that come to her knees and
neon earrings lifeless at her shoulders but she only laughs …
tells me I never really see her and to
call her later.

Now with the dial tone in my ear
the cold trembling and I’m suffocating on nothing
because I really see her and I
know she believes in the afterlife but
she doesn’t believe in laughter and
the phone just rings and rings and rings …

Carolyn said she believed in angels.



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This article has 376 comments.


on Jan. 31 2011 at 4:38 pm
alymarie3 PLATINUM, Leavenworth, Kansas
24 articles 0 photos 32 comments

Favorite Quote:
Piglet: How do you spell love?<br /> Pooh: You don&#039;t spell it, you feel it

I absoultuly heart! I was looking around for inspirtation 4 this short story when i came upon yours...breathtaking..just wow

CraZy_OnE_1 said...
on Jan. 25 2011 at 10:11 pm
CraZy_OnE_1, Rochester, Minnesota
0 articles 0 photos 11 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Be yourself, because everyone else is taken.&quot; I always forget who, but i think his name is Oscar Wilde

Somehow this poem makes me think. i like that a lot.

gleek1234 GOLD said...
on Jan. 24 2011 at 6:53 pm
gleek1234 GOLD, Burlington, Vermont
17 articles 0 photos 130 comments

Favorite Quote:
You did let me go you left me broken and heartless, crying out for help, with no one to answer my calls-Shilpa Pierpont-Hale ( poem) Love hurts

holy this is great!

Zwidon said...
on Jan. 23 2011 at 8:01 pm
Zwidon, Encinitas, California
0 articles 0 photos 14 comments
I don't know if it was intended to be a spoken-word poem or not but it reads really well out loud. Perhaps you should consider performing it somewhere. It's really good.

on Jan. 23 2011 at 7:41 pm
CharlesDickens SILVER, Georgetown, Texas
8 articles 0 photos 82 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;I do not agree with what you have to say, but I&#039;ll defend to the death your right to say it.&quot;<br /> ~Voltaire

I just say here, looking through all of these replies, not really knowing what to say...

It's poetry, that makes me think.

Nobody has made me think like this in a long time

5 stars


on Jan. 23 2011 at 2:23 pm
singinginthegardn GOLD, Cowell, Massachusetts
16 articles 2 photos 158 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say.&quot; ~Ana&iuml;s Nin

OMG! I was NOT expecting that ending! I love it....it made me think about everything that Carolyn was for. Great job <3 just one question? Was Carolyn emo/suicidal? With all that polish and dye..not to be ignorant! Just wondering...it's on my mind haha. Well keep it up <3 thanks!

on Jan. 23 2011 at 9:46 am
9CatsPerLife101 PLATINUM, Fairfax, Virginia
20 articles 0 photos 96 comments
lol so did I...but personally I'm a lot happier that it didn't really have to do with math.

purple said...
on Jan. 19 2011 at 1:21 pm
your poem is really good and desriptive, i really like it. And i can just picture  her in my mind

Xadon BRONZE said...
on Jan. 1 2011 at 11:33 pm
Xadon BRONZE, Cheney, Kansas
1 article 0 photos 7 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Joy, something that is found in small cracks and hiding places that we can only see when our eyes are closed&quot;---Me. ( Yeah, i made myself a quote deal with it.)

I liked it. I just kept thinking over it.

on Jan. 1 2011 at 10:13 pm
PictureUnperfect SILVER, Winchester, Massachusetts
5 articles 14 photos 7 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;We&#039;re all Mad here...&quot;

Amazing. (: i had to read it twice before i really got it, which i love! (:

on Jan. 1 2011 at 8:32 pm
Whisperheart BRONZE, Ashburn, Virginia
1 article 8 photos 5 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Cause for a moment a band of thieves in ripped up jeans got to rule the world...&quot;~Taylor Swift<br /> &quot;The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams&quot; ~Eleanor Roosevelt

Wow that was just amazing. The imagery was great, and I really loved it. Great piece.

Gigantron GOLD said...
on Jan. 1 2011 at 2:10 pm
Gigantron GOLD, Somewhere, Texas
11 articles 0 photos 36 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;There is a fundamental difference between religion, which is based on authority (imposed dogma, faith), [as opposed to] science, which is based on observation and reason. Science will win because it works.&quot;<br /> <br /> -Stephen Hawking

I'll completely honest: I clicked on this piece thinking that it would have content pertinent to actual chaos theory. You know, the field of study in applied mathematics. 

Kiyoko GOLD said...
on Dec. 27 2010 at 11:41 pm
Kiyoko GOLD, Knoxville, Tennessee
10 articles 0 photos 43 comments

Favorite Quote:
Independence is my happiness, I view things as they are without regard to place or person. My country is the world, and my religion is to do good. - Thomas Paine

This is beautiful. Truly. I am a big poetry writer and reader myself, and I know quite a bit about it. I really like this. there are extra words that you could cut out, to make it punchier, but the way it flows is nice as well. Just something to keep in mind as you write!

on Dec. 25 2010 at 7:12 pm
OriginalCarbonation GOLD, Naperville, Illinois
11 articles 0 photos 102 comments

Favorite Quote:
dream as if you&#039;ll live forever<br /> live as if you&#039;ll die tomorrow

this is so amazing. so so so perfect. the way you crafted the layers, and portrayed the characters. the way it built and fell away like some sort of trick bridge you half expected wouldnt make it. the way that you never said it directly, but yet, you did. this is so beautiful that i cried. i really hope you continue to write things like this. with people still thinking like this, writing like this, we may still have some hope for the world. and if this is true for you, then im sorry my friend, i understand completley.

will you please look at my two peices too? i feel like your constructive criticism could really help me improve


on Dec. 17 2010 at 8:49 pm
JaimeNichole SILVER, Trenton, Michigan
5 articles 0 photos 8 comments

Favorite Quote:
Life is a lie. Reality is an illusion. And sanity is insanity in disguise.

Honestly, this is one of my absolute favorite poems. I can so easily picture both of Carolyn and the speaker. I know who they are. I can relate to Carolyn so well. Almost any reader will feel like one of them. Your words sound beautiful. The raw emotion in this shook me. Please keep writing like this. Check out some of my stuff if you have time please.

on Dec. 10 2010 at 10:47 pm
SpringRayyn PLATINUM, Lakeville, Minnesota
34 articles 2 photos 658 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Don&#039;t punish yourself,&quot; she heard her say again, but there would be punishment and pain, and there would be happiness too. That was writing.&quot;<br /> --Markus Zusak, &quot;The Book Thief&quot;

I can only agree.

on Dec. 10 2010 at 9:52 pm
writergirl13 GOLD, Cherry Hill, New Jersey
11 articles 8 photos 261 comments

Favorite Quote:
All are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusions is called a philosopher.<br /> Ambrose Bierce

oh my. i'm quite speechless. so i take it that carolyn died at the end?

on Dec. 10 2010 at 7:21 pm
writingrox2 GOLD, Rolling Meadows, Illinois
14 articles 2 photos 33 comments

Favorite Quote:
Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you&#039;ll still land among the stars.

wow this is really good

on Dec. 10 2010 at 6:57 pm
ForeverDawn SILVER, Winnipeg, Other
9 articles 0 photos 4 comments
Beautiful...

smdkek said...
on Dec. 10 2010 at 12:47 pm
sophie you're so kind