SatNag
A Poem by Vance Hatton
In 300 yards, turn right.
Bear left onto High Street, then turn right.
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At the roundabout, take the second exit.
Then, in 300 yards, turn right.
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Merge onto the M3. The car ahead is too
slow, check mirrors, turn right
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and overtake, go, go, go! Put your foot
down, in ten yards turn right-
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Turn around where possible.
Which part of “turn right”
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did you not understand?
Now, when I tell you “turn right”
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you will obey me, I am your
master, get ready, turn right.
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Okay, fine, I’ll reroute you this once,
but it’ll add on twenty-five minutes. Turn right.
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To drive is to be like a child
learning to spell: look, say, turn, write,
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or a dancer gliding through liminal space,
another couple approaches, be graceful, turn right,
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and spin through the eye of the needle, thread
through car and cart, through space and time, turn left;
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there’s an art to driving, it’s a journey...
tell that to this robot turned cartwright
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screaming “You! You fool, listen to me!
Turn left is turn wrong, turn right and turn right!”