Place Cell

From London to Berlin!
I just finished reading and I had to tell you, dear,
that if you lined all the neurons in your brain next to each other,
they would stretch that far (I'm assuming this was never tested).Wait,
it gets better. They're saying we have
a neuron dedicated to every place we've ever been,
a little Christmas tree light that blinks
when we get there, grows brighter
the more we visit. A head full of lights!
Maps of electricity wired into the gray
matter, housed in the hippocampus,
a lovely word which, for me, always conjures a hippopotamus.
There's no way a hippopotamus could fit
in someone's head! But all this neuron stuff
stretching so far, who knows? Anyway,
the bathroom, the office, sure,
they give a jolt, but imagine the light
from your bedroom in the old house.
The strands of holiday lights lining the
sidewalk from my apartment to yours,
the electricity with every footfall.
I just had to tell you, had to come over
because they say this is how we find things,
how I just found you, again,
how the brain shocks us to remember
to turn right there, follow the row of hedges
ten steps, pass the bookstore, quarter mile and take a left,
three houses down and twenty-four stairs up.
Zap zap zap,
every place between you and I on fire with this light
so bright, and so dark when I stray from the path.
When I'm not near you I become uncentered.
All my maps end where you are.