[how much of the map]
how much of the map
could be labeled
terra incognita
how much unknown invisible to others
how much of myself could I shake off
abandon those undiscovered places
[I barely know] exist
though the map is not the territory
how I am drawn to leave behind the pattern
for the path for a minute
an hour for one whole day
I'd be like a Wintu describing the body
using cardinal directions
he touches me on the west arm
the river is to the east
when we return his east arm
circles around me and the river
stays to the west
without that landscape to connect to
who am I apart from what surrounds me
at the edge of the unknown dirt
unceasingly does my thinking
in bonam/malem partem
until it is a smooth stone in my mouth
venturing forward doubling back
what I see depends on where I am
if there be death
if the dark night of the soul
O, I know what is waiting
every threshold is sacred
the eternal allure
of what comes next
Copyright Credit: Francine Sterle, "[how much of the map]" from What Thread?. Copyright © 2015 by Francine Sterle. Reprinted by permission of Red Dragonfly Press.
Source: What Thread? (Red Dragonfly Press, 2015)