Map Time

A continent’s worth

of days.

The ravine where the cartographer

left his bones. X.

Legend has it.

He said: Let an inch equal 50 miles.

And it was.

When the town closes its eyes,

it dissolves into prairie.

Prairie has it.

It’s better to assume there’s no way to know

where you are.

The mountain knows.

See where that got him.

Terry Ofner has published poetry in San Pedro River Review, 100 Words, Flying Island, Eclectica Magazine, and other print and online journals. He holds degrees from the University of Iowa. Terry has worked in cut-flower greenhouses, designed gardens, washed windows, and coordinated meals at a boarding high school in which the students help cook and raise the food. He currently serves as an editor for a publishing company headquartered in Iowa, where he grew up—not far from the Mississippi River.