Geryon made his way through the fires in his mind to where the map should be. / In place of a map of the school corridor lay a deep glowing blank.

—Anne Carson, Autobiography of Red

You are walking in an unfamiliar city, beginning to enjoy

the sensation of being lost             and then your phone dies       

and you don’t miss the easy distraction or your ticket home

    it’s the disappearance of your dot on the map       that leads you

to the existential crisis      the admission that you actually prefer

the version of yourself that is round and blue        who knows       

instinctively which way to turn     while this fleshy replica

you’ve been left with can’t recall a single street name

         has never had a homing instinct             is too easily led

Things get so bad you purchase a real-life map         learn               

you have been going wrong for some time   A crowd is shoving

down the same scuff of pavement as you            there is no way

to turn around while still appearing sane     so you commit to the bit

       that sudden and performative realisation we make for the benefit

of strangers             the closed eyes          the head rolled back

I need you to understand that I have made a mistake