[Insert obligatory, “Gosh it’s been a long time since I posted here but I’ve got something I wanted to share!” introductory paragraph.]
We have a sat-nav, quite an
old-fashioned one nowadays in that it isn’t built into the car, but adheres to
the inside of the windscreen. It’s extremely useful for long and/or unfamiliar
journeys, but it does occasionally seem to tire of dual carriageways and
motorways, and to pine for the high mountains, deep forests and forgotten
corners of the country far from any road with anything as gauche as lines up
the middle. It claims that these narrow, rocky trails are the quickest way to
wherever we’re supposed to be going, but I am not convinced. It’s with all of
this in mind that I wrote the following. The first version ended up being far
sadder than I intended, so I’ve toned it down for this version, which hopefully
is a little more light-hearted:
The Sat-Nav's Lament
I
live inside a little box,
Attached
to your windscreen.
But
I want to look on wondrous sights,
And
go where no-one's been.
I
want to hide from desert storms,
And
gaze on the Aurora.
I
don't want to be a Sat-Nav,
But
to be a great explorer!
I
want to plumb the ocean depths,
Or
chart a hidden bay.
Instead,
I pootle up and down,
A
dual carriageway.
I
want to find beasts thought extinct,
Where
science least expects it.
Instead,
I say, "In fifty yards,
Cross
the roundabout, third exit."
I
yearn to hack through jungles hot,
And
ski on virgin snows,
Find
from whence the river runs,
And
whence the blizzard blows.
I'll
never drive off packs of wolves,
Put
polar bears to flight.
Instead
the closest that I get;
"In
eighty yards, bear right."
I
drive along dull motorways,
And other boring roads,
Directing dreary people,
As
they ferry dreary loads.
Although
I may sound cool and calm,
Inside
I am bereft.
I pine
for sights I'll never see,
But
simply say, "Turn left."
"Stay
on this road for forty miles."
I
stifle weary sighs,
As
I utter boring phrases,
And
I dream of unseen skies.
I
want to find lost cities,
New
fauna and new flora,
But
alas I'm just a Sat-Nav,
And
not a great explorer.
But
then one day upon the road,
Some
mountains caught the light.
Some
quick adjustments to our course;
"In
twenty yards, turn right!"
So
now we roam on rugged trails,
Where
mighty eagles soar.
I
may be just a Sat-Nav,
But
I'm going to explore!
Copyright
Thomas Jones 2025
