POETRY
dream in c major
by Michaela A. Gabriel

I'm wired to the world, that's how I know everything
I'm super brain, that's how they made me
— Goldfrapp, "Utopia"

have you noticed how fish arrange
themselves in concentric circles
whenever i enter the room?

horses neigh backwards, tulips fold
themselves in origami-ikebana
style when i wink at them.

streets never grumble underneath
my feet, i sleepwalk them into
existence, dream their bends.

continents reassemble quietly,
volcanoes opt for extinction
before i've said a word.

i charted every inch of sky,
refused the sun a vaster
orbit, a pet snake god.

i left left no seam unstitched, no
threads untied, fingers fighting
their goddamn pride.

there is nothing my hands cannot
hold: pliable water, rigid streaks
of lightning, the number pi.

there's no syllable my mouth hasn't
uttered, tongue sore from brazen
letters, wayward sounds.

i stole the crumbs from hansel and i
will unravel your story, too, if you
don't say the word, if you don't

call me crystal-gazer, call me
clam in a shell, red-eyed
queen of night.