Maps

I am an adventurer

Not by name

But by raffle

For no reason

and for that reason

the states of the world

in all their rapture

will be patterned with this shoe print

until the rubber smoothes like sand under a tide

and when that day comes

and the grip depletes

I will unlace these canvas sneakers and set them aside

Barefoot I will embark

Onward and out

To meet a seasick sailor who will court me around the world

By foot

And with no gifts or stamps

My face will be a blur

My name will be another

And I will pay no mind as I carry on

With one hand in my sailor man’s and one hand on my suitcase

I will stand tall, my feet in each sea

Then and only then will I resurrect my memories and rename every land and every body of blue I sink in

After the faces who chose to remain in their concrete existence

But if the search someday ceases

I will lay my head down in the earth’s embrace

And feed my flesh to my comrades

Knowing what my eyes have seen has filled the gaping hole

and knowing I no longer need my skin to be complete