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Poets and artists

Greta Gabbro

in the lab

behind her hunched back
they call her
Greta Gabbro

she wants to be alone

with her microscope
and that particular
sliver of rock
that everyone knows
she stole

a week ago
at 40x magnification
in the course of routine work
she discovered
a continent

a land mass
glimpsed
in a bird’s eye view

an instant flash
of recognition
something about the shape
she saw
suggesting home

in a turn of a wheel
the world was clearer
coming into focus
crystallising
beneath her lens

she claimed
this new land
slipped it
for safe keeping
into her purse

and each day since
when she thinks
that no one’s watching

she has returned
to The Kingdom of Gabbro

yesterday
she made herself Queen
and saw a shimmering
she believes to be
a water source

a lake side
where she’ll set up camp
until something
permanent
and palatial
can be arranged

today
she maps a coast line
and a frozen north

identifies bright fields
reserves of gold
and silver
should she ever need to trade

considers
sea defences

she’s becoming territorial
protective of
her dominion,
the haven
that she’s made.

behind her hunched back,
they call her
Greta Gabbro.

she wants to be alone

with her microscope
and that particular
little empire
that everyone knows
she stole