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 wor