I drew the coast where the coast should be
not where the water wants to go
the legend lied so tenderly
in inches I could never know
Forgive the map, forgive the man
who folded mountains into squares
the territory never ran
in straight lines, anywhere
A compass points an honest north
to nothing you can hold or keep
I traced the rivers stumbling forth
then watched them turn to sleep
Here be dragons, here be doubt
the edges where my ink ran out
I named a sea I'd never seen
and called the blank space in between
Forgive the map, forgive the man
who folded mountains into squares
the territory never ran
in straight lines, anywhere