Exchange

I took a lightbulb back to 1492:

Christopher Columbus showed me his map,

hand-made, accurate to within 5000 miles;

I showed him the lightbulb.

He peered at the pea-seed of the filament,

breathed lightly on the glass,

let it sit on the palm of his hand like an egg.

I explained it would glow – a moon, a cold candle;

he nodded, turned back to his map,

tracing a finger along an etched coastline

that I knew full well did not exist.