"The carnival at the edge of space," fractal art by Damon Taylorshiva dances
with fractal serpent arms
coiled around perfect circles
and golden rectangles

and dionysus prances
on wandering goat feet
stepping to the shimmering beat
of star-twinkle pulses

gods and muses
arc from sky to earth
and earth to sky
in thought-bodies

while through everything
a thin breeze blows
and also does not blow.

First published in Strange Horizons
Copyright © 2002, Jessica Langer

Image Credit: Copyright © 2003, Damon Taylor, some rights reserved

Jessica is a writer and PhD student, doing research on science fiction and postcolonialism; she also teaches courses on literature and film. Jessica lives in London, England with her husband and cat, and can normally be found in either the British Library or Starbucks.