POEM - Strong Sense of Direction

The old globe still had sea monsters
And steamship lanes in dotted lines
That gave the monsters a wide berth
And I would trace the lines
And picture myself at sea
Then spin to Africa
And tabulate all the names
That no longer existed
An early understanding
Of the meaning of volatility

We had flat maps too
I learned early to remember the creases
And how to fold them back just right
I was taught to find my place
On coordinates of letters and numbers
How to visualize the world
By analyzing squiggly lines
And their proximity to one another
To see clearly
From these small signs
The mountains and valleys
That lay ahead of me

And it is nice
That the son of a cartographer
Inherited a sense of direction
As if he drew in my mind
During my infancy
An internal map
The ability to visualize
The twists and turns
The ways around
The right way to get there
To avoid going the wrong way
Down a one way street
And avoiding getting stuck
In a variety of dead ends
A clear picture
Drawn with care
By skilled and learned hands