Chaos

Debuted at #19 in LGBTQ+ Poetry and #28 in Contemporary Poetry on Kindle.

what are we / when we look in the mirror? / ourselves? / or the shape / of all the people who left us?

In Chaos, Charity Whan writes directly through the disorientation of transformation. After the ending of a marriage and reckoning with a desire that reshaped her understanding of herself, Whan examines how identity forms, fractures, and reforms. This collection of poetry, prose, and color photography presents as a kind of collage-with generational trauma, loss, regret, sexual identity, and the quiet process of reclamation all layering into a single story.

These fragments of a life move through heartbreak, shame, resilience, and self-acceptance without sensationalizing any part of the story. Instead, they focus on the internal shifts-the moments when a woman realizes she can no longer keep living a version of herself that leaves her unseen.

Firmly rooted in lived experience, Chaos is a collection about honesty, embodiment, and the moments that force us to confront the truth we've avoided. It offers space for anyone who has ever questioned the life expected of them-and wondered who they might be on the other side.