Traveling to foreign lands is difficult enough
but someone’s pulled the rumpled surface of the globe askew
and moved the ends of the meridians. Longitude: unknown
unfindable now by clever arithmetic. The navigator wails
and grinds his teeth.
Strike flat the thick rotundity of the earth,
said Lear in madness. Perhaps he got his wish.
The compass hangs limp or spins crazy, no use
either way. The sextant mocks with brassy grins.
Charts just lie there.
Now the navigator walks the deck and mutters
talismanic names: Mercator, Equator, Greenwich,
Horse. He paces in great circles, unaware of gravity
all the direction he needs right under his feet
drawing him down.
NB: The Lear quote is from King Lear, by, of course, Shakespeare.
Poefusion: skew, foreign, wailing, travel, arithmetic
Theme: Someone moved the ends
Friday, February 15, 2008
Longitude Unknown
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7 comments:
Interesting poem. I particularly like the second stanza...
I love this poem. I'm with Tumblewords, the second stanza is great. Strike flat the thick rotundity of the earth. Wow~ You are an incredible writer. Keep up the good work. Have a nice weekend.
Exactly what will happen when the GPS satellites stop working! I love this nautical theme, thanks for sharing it! :-)
'The sextant mocks with brassy grins'
Wonderful image! Really like the whole poem, and these other lines especially:
'Now the navigator walks the deck and mutters
talismanic names: Mercator, Equator, Greenwich,
Horse'
ah - i love that last stanza, very clever and lovely word play!
That is lovely. Love the flow of it.
Wonderful imagery. Lovely poem.
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