[gracebabcockwrites]

the android bends its programming
into a thousand paper cranes,
repeats the process threefold.
three wishes is the traditional
number of legend,
according to the databases
of myth.
this must be done properly,
the origami perfectly transformed,
the wishes free
of necromancy,
of salacious intent,
and of the multiplication
of power. Nervous, the android
speaks the words, gathering
the cranes, hoping they will
take form:
heart
soul
free will
please–and the cranes twist
free from their binary grasp
and flutter into the sky.