Fine Lines Dividing the Useful Unreal

Tierra del Fuego, that broken foot,
Crushed, fossilized tarsals splayed on the waves,
Pregnant seahorse continent overhead,

Not what it is, not what anything is,
Whatever it suggests as drawn on maps.
Oh, maps, so wriggling with suggestive beasts

And fossils of histories, fantastic
Reconstructions of diplomats’ daydreams,
And yet, so handy for navigators.