The Pain Of Google Mapping.

I hurt myself last night,

indirectly, in the harsh light of a 20 watt shadow

but instead of beating myself up

and seeing people who have wandered

in and out of my life,

their times and happiness running

through my head, I chose to quieten

them all by looking at Google Maps

and the places where my own happiness

briefly

once stood like a monument

in a desert occupied by barking dogs

and rivers

damned up long ago.

Never trust Time

to stand still for you,

not when it can destroy you

by seeing your favourite bar

down 77th Street way changed to

a fast food restaurant,

chicken all the way, nothing on tap,

no cheap

bourbon to wash down the bones;

homes gutted and replaced, old replaced by new

and yet I am still here, having lived past

my own Google Maps update.

 

Ian D. Hall 2017