A Map and Chains

David LaBounty

we talked about
love and debt
and other
rubber chains
as we studied
that map
of the world
that lay open
between us
and
we tried
to see our
way past the
roadblocks and
minefields and
on to greater
impossible journeys
but we couldn't
figure the map out.

we turned it over
and upside
down and it
was nothing
but a maze
of confusion and
being so we folded
it back up as our
conversation ceased
and
we made the kids
go outside to play
in the sun
or the rain.

I opened up a book.

you turned on the TV.