is the Mandelbrot Set
soaked in brandy
and set afire
with a drop of rainwater
in a loop of summer grass.

Sylvia’s hair is a gold-leaf crossword puzzle in Arabic,
is 52,715 palominos on locoweed;
a storm of grasshoppers choreographed by Twyla Tharp.

Sylvia’s hair is all that remains
of a lost empire of sun worshippers;
a mountain of shards,
the image of the Goddess
engraved on every piece.

In a blur of haste, Monet’s brush flickers through brilliant air, from palette to
canvas and back.
The sun repositions in the sky. Monet tosses the canvas into roadside grass,
lifts a new
one from a stack. Another Monet watches the first Monet’s shadow
lengthen, captures
Monet’s impression, throws the image down, and starts another.
That’s Sylvia’s hair.

Sylvia’s braids are hawsers
that lead into all of the other dimensions,
anchored to the heads of all of the other Sylvias,
keeping the Knot of All Worlds tight,
not ravelable by any set of busy fingers.

Each strand of Sylvia’s hair is a twist of candle smoke.

-Jesse Minkert

*Originally published in the Spring 2008 Issue of The Raven Chronicles.