I wish

I wish . . .

seeing things differently
didn’t make me feel so different
from
you

I wish . . .

everyone’s life were wrapped
up in the petty
because no one was suffering
the big things today –
war, famine, violence in all its
nefarious forms

I wish . . .

my life,
all our lives,
were as big as
our dreams . . .

I wish . . .

we all – not just the musicians
among us,
had ears to hear
symphonies
in birdsong

I wish . . .

every mother
every father
would grow old
enough
to watch
not just
their children,
but their grandchildren
and greatgrandchildren
grow into the people they
will become

I wish . . .

that just for one day,
one moment, even,
we could all know
kindness and not rejection,
love and not hate,
welcome and not judgment,
knowing we are of use and not
a sense of purposelessness

I wish . . .