Direction Rejection

It doesn’t take introspection; 
I have grandma’s sense of direction, 
(Although lack of sense is more clear). 
I suffer direction rejection. 

 I learned through mistakes far and near, 
With destination in the mirror, 
To find the sun up in the sky 
And figure out which way to steer. 

 Keep going straight, and by-and-by 
A numbered highway I would spy 
To set me back upon my way 
To wherever I refused to fly. 

 I never mind the odd foray 
Onto back roads in light of day. 
I always find some perfection 
When I am lost and far away . 

This poem is from Prompt #16 of the Around the World poetry challenge issued by murisopsis. The form is called an Interlocking Rubaiyat and consists of any number of quatrain stanzas with a rhyme scheme of a/a/b/a b/b/c/b c/c/d/c d/d/a/d (d/d/e/d and so on if you write more than four stanzas. The final stanza loops back to the /a/ rhyme in the third line.

I think one reason I’ve never been fond of big cities is because I always get lost. I get lost in the country, too, but it’s so much easier to find your way when you can see the sun and the horizon, and landmarks besides tall buildings that block both of those things. I take after my paternal grandmother in having a bad sense of direction, but hers was worse. I’m pretty sure she thought the sun rose in the west.

Even when I’m geocaching, actually holding a GPS/compass in my hand, I still get myself turned around, or walk right into a swamp or to the edge of a ravine. The former because I forget to waymark my vehicle. The latter because I’m slow to learn that a straight line is not always the best way to go unless you’re a bird.

When I’m traveling, I’ve learned to enjoy being lost. It seems that I always find the most fun roads, prettiest views, quirkiest statues, most picturesque buildings, and best cafes when I’m off course on some little backroad. Once I crossed the state line into Indiana on a dirt road that was barely two ruts running between a couple of cornfields. These are things I tend to remember more than the planned stops.

With modern technology, it’s almost impossible to really get lost, but I’ll occasionally take a random exit, turn off the navigation system, and take myself on a little adventure. You should try it sometime.