Perfect blue

I took this image as a gift for a friend using one of his cyanotypes and this poem:

First of all, you will need to choose the correct blue

to indicate water. This should not be too watery.

You must remember: people do not like wet feet.

If there is no water to indicate, no matter,

you must still elect a blue. Let me recommend

eggshell, at a push, azure. Choose a symbol

for church/temple/mosque/synagogue. Choose

a symbol for pub. Dedicate your life

to the twin and warring gods of Precision

and Wild Abandon. People do not like

to be lost. Buy Mandelbrot's 1967 paper

on the coastline paradox, put it on the highest shelf –

but get a stepladder. Take a little licence with rivers,

especially their curves and estuaries. Add

an oxbow lake if at all possible. If the area you

are mapping has no seas/lakes/rivers/streams,

I have to question why you are bothering. You

won't get to use that lovely blue you spent so long

deciding upon. Do the Norfolk fens instead. Better

yet, East Anglia in its future state, quite utterly

submerged like a sodden Constable. Come on,

get your coat, I'll show you. You won't need your shoes.

Cartography for Beginners by Emily Hasler