“Without knowledge of the ‘error of the day or moment’ (caused by wind, temperature, humidity and barometric pressure), shooting ‘from the map,’ that is, at targets that could not be observed by the battery, was often a waste of time and ammunition.”
—Peter Chasseaud, Artillery’s Astrologers (57–58).
The error of the day or moment
is not something I did
or didn’t do.
Every day, every moment
has its error.
Today, for example,
the sly heat
when you’re close.
The thickness
of the air that slows
shells and alters
birdsong.
The lacunae
in reports.
The error is not ours.
The error
is something
we must be given.