n unseen ruler defines with geometry

An unrulable expanse of geography

An aerial photographer over-exposed

To the cartologist's 2D images knows

The areas where the water flowed

So petrified, the landscape grows

Straining eyes try to understand

The works, incessantly in hand

The carving and paring of the land

The quarter square, the graph divides

Beneath the rule a country hides

Interrupting my train of thought

Lines of longitude and latitude

Define and refine my altitude

The curtain's undrawn

Harness fitted, no escape

Common and peaceful, duck, flat, lowland

Landscape, canal, canard, water coloured

Crystal palaces for floral kings

A well-known waving span of wings

Witness the sinking of the sun

A deep breath of submission has begun