Cartographic Confidence
Location
Antananarivo is the capital of Madagascar
open a map and you open me
a view I can’t help but dream
doesn’t even cover the amazing feeling
that thrills through my fingers as
I hold the world in front of me.
Bandar Seri Begawan is the capital of Brunei
Maps move me, move for me
because beyond their two
dimensional lines, crosses, neat quadrants,
their topography forms like beautiful bodies
that I long to explore, their secrets lay
in knowing them, their names, do you know
that the capital of Belarus is Minsk?
Long car rides when I was little and
I didn’t know where we were going but I knew
that the capital of Australia is Canberra
not Sydney or Melbourne, like other people may think,
but I am not other people, I am my own
cartographer, compass clasped in one hand
me the map or keep it, I can still tell
you that the capital of Denmark is Copenhagen,
let’s play the alphabet game with capitals and countries:
Antananarivo, Madagascar
Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
Canberra, Australia
Dili, East Timor
now you’re speaking my language
of land and earth and sea
the world in it’s entirety, and you’ll understand how
much there’s left to know
of me; my journey has just begun
flawlessly
Zagreb is the capital of Croatia