from Atlas, by Glenn Bach

 

From the waves

 

between and of the sea. What travelers
are saying / is this a place. Maybe they unfurled

 

a map giving          terrain / tides

 

the mighty Pacific before we knew better—

 

a map giving
a great little this is a far cry. It comes alive
with streets / who imagined the quality of the places
being built. Why was the city not like this

 

the whole time? Our demise in story
after story. The signs in the stars the borders

 

are not strictly defined the roaring of these
waters / open space the shoreline inches forward

 

of the earth the showing forth.

 

 

 

 

Glenn Bach is a poet, sound artist, and educator who lives and works in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. His major project, Atlas, is a long poem that documents his reflections on place, landscape, and our understanding of the world. It has been excerpted in small journals such as Dusie, jubilat, and Otoliths.