Brianna Strohbehn The Map and The Explorer

Brianna Strohbehn

The Map and the Explorer

I am the map reader––the one with the directions. As I drag my fingers across his smooth skin, I discover places I’ve never been––Parts of him I’ve never seen.

His lips speak the truths he wants me to hear, Yet his eyes show me what he could never say. I trail my fingers down his neck and feel his Beating pulse––my own constant.

The sharpness of his collar bones threatens to cut, Yet I skirt by unscathed. I feel his heart once Again––feel those who hurt him, who fatigued his Beating drum. I promise not to do the same.

I trace through the muscle of him, marking my Progress with the landmarks that cover him––Freckles and cuts, scars and memories. He is my Roadmap––beautiful, yet imperfect all the same.

I brush across his arms, the terrain jagged with Sinew and strength. They wrap around me, reminding Me that I am a part of the map, too. He says that the Map and the explorer are unified––we are one.

One cannot exist without the other.

The map may survive alone, And the explorer, too, but they complement One another in ways no one else ever could.

I am the explorer and he the map, but together We are unified as one. We are one journey, one soul, One pair just trying to survive the unknown. But with His directions and my knowledge, we might just survive.