Wishes in a Jar

A Poem

Photo by Diego PH on Unsplash

don’t tell me all your lies
because they won’t fly here —
not when you’re counting fireflies
left over from some long-ago summer.

and all those wishes in a jar
never got us anywhere, did they?

and all those wishes on stars
faded to nothing at all, right?

you can try to sell them your game,
but i think you know better by now
because they act just the same
behind all their little masks.

and all those wishes in a jar
just disappointed you, didn’t they?

and all those wishes on stars
became just dust, no?

and i’m sitting here in corners
sketching out my next plot
while all these mourners
ask what happens next.

and all my wishes in a jar
still sit on my bedside shelf.

and all those wishes on stars
became my best kind of self.

but you’re just telling tales
in your own way, in your own time —
whatever will…