THE MAP AND THE TERRITORY Poem by Luís Quintais

Boredom was the space where we waged
the battle of our lives. The teacher
talked and we didn't listen
enthralled as we were
by the time contained in our graph paper,
by our guesses and our criss-crossing shots.

Today we know (from habit or evasion)
that the metaphor is this: a blind attempt
to hit the objects floating
on the grid, battleships
that will sink, if we're adept
at drawing and reading shapes.

Most of us, however, discover
the greater difference: the map is not reality.
Reality meanders over a vast territory
for which there is no metrics,
only a dream of metrics.
The heavy shadow covers the little truth
we manage to salvage and, moving,
destroys its legacy.

You know nothing because you remember nothing.