you mentioned la pieta

the dotted line

the holy flapping dress

white legs carving darkness

and you traced your thoughts

on the tablecloth

as you were speaking



so when you left i grabbed the white

and telling tablecloth

and i carried it out

into the empty streets

and i laid it down

to see what i could see



i led my horse along the latitudes

across the folds and into white

and somehow along the way

my horse slid off sideways

and was gone forever



i mourned and then forgot about it

i resumed the line

the latitudes and longitudes

are calling me

they're stringing me out

across the seas forever



they say -- da da...

map of the world



i run along the dotted line

and i grab my flapping dress --- wheeee

and the global winds rush past me

shouting -- this is happiness

a quick flight to the global edge

that spans the vast expanse



to where the mountains meet

like relay-runners

to where the snow caps do

and the snow-fleurs try

i raise one arm up to the sky

to touch a speck --- an eagle flies

and a stick-figure on the other side

he waves back to me...(?)



he said -- da da...

map of the world



a stick-figure with briefcase

and a business suit and tie

he walks across the perfect lawn

(you mean the perfect-perfect-perfect lawn?)

and he stands there at the foot

of the golden office tower



he says --- "i must get to work today

i have to get inside somehow"

but the golden office tower

was just a cliff the sun was setting on

so he ran up along the cliff

and was gone forever



he said -- da da...



you were with us

when we held our meetings

at the end of the plains

la pieta

broad topics like ---

life and death

(is dinner ready yet?)

yes --- it's a map-of-the-world



i run along the dotted line

beyond the mountain tops

past the far-flung icefloes

and the outlying tundra

and i circle down

to see what i can see



i can see ten men of the kremlin

ten pegs upon the plains

ten men with stony faces

facing west where night erases

shadows in the places

where the faces

of the kremlin used to be



they say --- da da...

map of the world