The Brass Coordinate

Boarding the early train toward City Hall, your sweet words about cherishing our city discoveries kept my steps light. I slipped onto the curving path of the Deoksugung stonewall walkway, where fallen ginkgo leaves speckled the cool pavement. Right near the base of a weathered granite pier, a circular gleam caught my eye. Kneeling down, I found a vintage brass survey benchmark disk embedded flush into the lower masonry. I unfolded my pocket loupe to inspect the tiny etched elevation crosshairs and coordinate numbers. Running my fingertip over the chilled, sunken grooves felt like touching the very secret anchor point from which the city's maps were drawn.