MAPPING THE CITY: DC Places, Part II Mark Fitzgerald   POTOMAC AT LAST LIGHT FIRST Take this nation, the setting sun, that 555-foot obelisk across the river. Steady your finger in front of your nose. Narrow your eyes. Replace it. Now your hand. The sun. This nation. While you’re at it, pluck up that Parthenon too. (Careful with those 36 Doric columns.) Tuck it in your pocket. Slip away unseen. Steady . . . cling to what you can until dawn— until the light blushes crimson over the ripples, .....shorebirds tent themselves in flight, ..... .....until the willows weep, until they fan ..... ..... ..... .....their shadows, drink ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... .....tears along the banks: along this dreamy, snaky parkway zooming by— ..... ..... .....remake what you have taken. ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... .....Retrace it.   Mark Fitzgerald grew up in southeastern Pennsylvania and received a BA in English from Franklin and Marshall College and an MFA in creative writing from George Mason University, graduating with Phi Beta Delta honors. He has studied in Strasbourg, France and was awarded a fellowship to pursue his writing at Oxford. In May 2010, Cinnamon Press published a collection of his poetry, By Way of Dust and Rain, which he launched at a reading in London. His poems have appeared in Crab Creek Review, Squaw Review, Temenos, Poetry Midwest and Parting Gifts. He currently teaches writing at the University of Maryland and The Catholic University of America.   Published in Volume 11, Number 4, Fall 2010.   To read more by this author: Mark Fitzgerald: Evolving City Issue