The female engineer probably studied something else

i.

thank

Navigation

that we are explorers underneath it all.

Among us who have known

since six, since dreaming of quasars and strings and acceleration - - (wondering if it all has to be centripetal)

that there is no edge - - (it just goes on around to where we started)

we do not wander - - (with celestial eyes we sail).

ii.

Yes, yes.... the staircase is full of fog, but we're used to that in california up on the cliffs- -

we know the steps, we know them so well,

we made ourselves

the waxy warp molds on each stair

where to place your foot! each stair slightly like a cushion,

tempur-pedic stair.

iii.

Sailing to borneo

because why else would we be in the cold ass water off the california cliffs? to surf?

we bring our skilled tools to predict the storm, find cures for parasites and sea fungi,

track whale migrations, demystify their strange underwater language,

and measure the most visible stars - - (we do this to let men define empires).

How do I navigate off the edge? she asks. what is the map, the map, she asks. how do I come home?

we navigate by the invisible ones. the ones "too" far away.

the ones just past the edge.

how is that.

See we are quite excellent at triangulation, us navigational women.

the invisible stars push us like gigantic magnets.

they twist our hair when we sleep and cause ankle blisters.

they refresh us with strong silver mist-gusts right before dawn, when we are half awake and reorganizing where we're even going today. what the hell home means.

the invisible stars say "shh, you are moving, shh, you are moving."

we can feel everything all along, including the dark matter (the stuff men find out with math).

The dark matter we know is just like balance, like sea legs.

i.

Dr. King said - faith is the first step when you don't see the whole staircase.

but what if we made the staircase.

we don't see it but we know it.

Women have been taught that, for us,

the earth is flat, and if we venture out, we will fall off the edge.

Among us who have known,

since six - -

we do not wander.