I demand that the nineteenth century apologize.
I insist that outer space explain its inner workings.
I require that the future present itself immediately.
Or I will have to take steps;
I will despatch a thousand hostile origami cranes,
I will flatten all six tires of time and darkness,
I will bend the will of several gods into a horseshoe,
You won’t have seen it coming.
I direct that the rules of the game be clear and broken glass.
I command that the root of two be exonerated on grounds of insanity.
I order that Monarch butterflies be taught to do the backstroke.
Or regret will enter the equation;
I will force La Niña and El Niño into a misery of wedlock,
I will repeal the fourth law of thermodynamics,
I will commit the innocent to lives of guilty secrets,
Then seeing will be believing.
I demand that the Higgs boson be hurled back into hiding.
I require Amelia Earhart’s exact position and velocity, right now.
I direct that the rain grow wild from the seeds I’ve sown.
Or chaos will abound;
I will lock the night inside one shining lamp,
I will liberate sorrow from its prison in Spain,
I will annul the dark and sunny day we met,
Yes, I will.