I traded sextant for a card catalogue
Quercus alba filed in decimal
These calloused fingers trace the latitude
Of pressed leaves and salt-stained marginalia
Dead reckoning in the archive basement
Where latitude is measured in pages
No star shots here just cellulose and patience
I plot my course through silent storied stages
The card catalog smells like kelp and lignin
Spartina alterniflora in drawer forty-three
I tie a bowline on a loose-leaf binding
And chart the soundings of a landlocked sea
Dead reckoning in the archive basement
Where latitude is measured in pages
No star shots here just cellulose and patience
I plot my course through silent storied stages
The reading room holds no horizon line
Just Taxodium distichum in microfiche
I take a bearing on the Dewey spine
And fathom depths no lead line could ever reach
Dead reckoning in the archive basement
Where latitude is measured in pages
No star shots here just cellulose and patience
I plot my course through silent storied stages
Captain's log becomes a reading log
Dead man's chest is now a card catalog
Trade winds settle in the HVAC
I've dropped anchor in the reference stack
Now Quercus rubra marks my final chapter
No storm warnings in the climate control
I'll root right here where knowledge runs deeper
Than any trench where rolling billows roll
Dead reckoning in the archive basement
Where latitude is measured in pages
No star shots here just cellulose and patience
I plot my course through silent storied stages
Dead reckoning. Dead reckoning.
Home port found in cellulose and binding
