I represent actual things
with a representation of those things.
Come in,
sit down.
I'll select posture, expression and language
like semaphore,
an agreed-upon symbology
like mailing some version of myself
to some version of you.
Behold this Orinoco
made of ink;
this range
comprised of bumps.
Roll your fingers over them.
That, is real.
Let us fall in love
with what we seem to be.
Let us share a border
clear on charts but apocryphal on scene
where we may meet and express our confusion.
I am a cartographer.
I can tell you how far from here
to there,
from where I am
to where you are,
and at how many degrees
longitude and latitutude
we can expect to find various landmarks--
happiness,
children,
retirement and so forth.
I am a cartographer;
come live with me
and be my love.
Some day,
I may write you a poem
throwing everything we depend upon
into chaos.
_________
for The Sunday Muse #122.
I love love love this poetic map you have written Shay! A map of life, lovers and all it holds in-between. True poetic brilliance here my friend!!!!
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the visceral map imagery, the way you made the page more tactile and clear, then flipped the mystery back into it. The lines have a movement that draw me through.
ReplyDeleteI love the mailing of "some version of myself to some version of you", and the closing, with the prescience of that possible future poem which might throw everything into chaos.
ReplyDeleteEvery line is a line to savor in this one, but I especially like the meat of this stanza: "..Let us fall in love/with what we seem to be..." There's a lifetime's pain, loss, and disillusion in that, and yet the narrator reserves her hope,and her spirit remains able to pivot and see both the gifts received, and the price paid. Last lines are phenomenal--the impact of a comet hitting the earth. Fine, mature and intelligent writing as only you can do, Shay, and a very great pleasure to read.
ReplyDeleteShay--What a poem. Wonderful images. Powerful emotions. Great line breaks. And that comma, after "That" and before "is real" is perfect.
ReplyDeleteNow I'd like to see the Nymph's reply to this Passionate Cartographer. Brilliant ending. And this - "like mailing some version of myself / to some version of you". Perfect.
ReplyDeleteThe cartographic point of view, filled with such images as only you can coin.
ReplyDelete"Who you believe yourself to be", and "version of you" touch on our tendency to live behind the mask we present to the world. Great read!
This is an amazing piece of poetry. Mailing some version of myself to you, I think we all have many versions. It's about perception and point of view.
ReplyDeleteAa very fine bit of cartographic verse. As always, right on the spot. :)
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ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed how you charted life’s landmarks..
weaving its ups and downs within the context of
relationship. My kind of poem🙌🏽
“Mailing some version of myself to some version of you”
ReplyDeleteThat is only one example of the fine lines you have mapped out here.
Some version of myself, basically it changes daily. The first two lines of this stopped me dead in my tracks, stopped reading for more than several seconds .... thinking what a great beginning ~~ it got better and better as it continued.
ReplyDeleteLove this Shay! Please come snd time travel with me... ;)
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