SatNag
A Poem by Vance Hatton
In 300 yards, turn right.
Bear left onto High Street, then turn right.
At the roundabout, take the second exit.
Then, in 300 yards, turn right.
Merge onto the M3. The car ahead is too
slow, check mirrors, turn right
and overtake, go, go, go! Put your foot
down, in ten yards turn right-
Turn around where possible.
Which part of “turn right”
did you not understand?
Now, when I tell you “turn right”
you will obey me, I am your
master, get ready, turn right.
Okay, fine, I’ll reroute you this once,
but it’ll add on twenty-five minutes. Turn right.
To drive is to be like a child
learning to spell: look, say, turn, write,
or a dancer gliding through liminal space,
another couple approaches, be graceful, turn right,
and spin through the eye of the needle, thread
through car and cart, through space and time, turn left;
there’s an art to driving, it’s a journey...
tell that to this robot turned cartwright
screaming “You! You fool, listen to me!
Turn left is turn wrong, turn right and turn right!”