Stephen decided to go on a journey
He took a bag of provisions
And a map
With a route marked out
But from the outset
It seemed to Steve
That the places he visited
Never quite matched the things on the map

He would arrive at a city
But the map suggested a smaller town
Or a fork in the road
But a crossroads was marked
And as Steve traveled onwards
It seemed to him
That things were getting
Further and further out of sync

At the side of a lake
Still and flat
The map would show
A tall mountain
When he arrived at a hotel
With spires and balconies
The map read:
“Military Installation”

Steve decided to hire a car
Perhaps if he could move faster
He could catch up with things
And correct the mismatch
Of course the map
Was no help at all
When he tried to find
A car hire place

Steve got in
And moved off at speed
But if anything
Things got worse
The map showed
A series of towns and cities
But Steve just traveled on
Through endless empty desert

Here is a mountain
Snow-capped and majestic
But at the coordinates
A flat plain and the sign for a church
Here is a city
Filled with glass skyscrapers
But on the grid
A rocky cove and a deserted peninsula

As time went on
Steve checked the map less frequently
But at the same time
He checked the landscape less as well
He knew he couldn’t trust
The map to make sense
But Steve felt
He couldn’t trust the landscape either

Now Steve only travels at night
All he can see
Is the illuminated highway
And the signs flashing past
He disposed of the map
A long long time ago
And he chooses turnings
By instinct alone

He doesn’t bother
To read the signs
He doesn’t think
They would help
And he’s not even sure
If he slowed down
He would be able
To read the signs at all