II. In Which we Learn of Mort and Nort--Their Skills, Their Talents, Their Trade

Mort and Nort, a special sort
of stout twin sports
surveyors two
squint to imagine themselves
on this planet, far distant
beyond double-stars and black holes.
Their twin minds see their reflected pacing performance
indentical dances and size of stride
worked out on the many planets they had mapped
together
twin rhythms and understanding
of lines that are circles on a surface
longitude first
back to back beneath that unmoving star
meticulously they measure and check
great circles
from pole to pole
to pole.
Then on one of these great circle lines
they march, side-by-side, a distance
down, then turn
back-to-back
pace and measure and mark
the latitude--concentric circles
swelling to the equator
begin shrinking to a dot
at the pole.

They possessed the secret formulae
so from among the notations in their logbooks
on weather and water,
the features, the fauna

the flora, the star maps
the sunset, volcanoes, cloud banks
their moods
their quiet cadenced conversation
and counted paces
reconstructed in their fine twin minds
pictures of those paced circles
as thin wire outlines
a cage, or a basket of a certain shape,
be it almond, walnut, orange, or egg.