Wishful thinking

· by · in free verse, poetry. ·

I wish my wishful thinking
could be more,
much more
than this, my sinking
into wistful drinking.

I wish I had more restless vigor,
urge of yearning,
a will to hope and thrill to cope,
instead of this, my listless rigor.

I wish on stars, with fingers
crossed, that cost of wars,
could once be paid by those
who passed unlawful laws:
our paws-in-pocket-pundits
beloved rulers of the world.

I wish for least a silver lining,
a glass that’s more
than half, I wish for ease of light,
for peace and rights,
for nights of sleep,
and depth of thoughts

I wish for more agreement signings
for hands that raise us all
embracing, guiding,
for lighthouse beacons leading
and for nests at shore to rest.

War by Arnold Böcklin

War by Arnold Böcklin

Today Mish is prompting us to write about wishes at dVerse. To write about those naive wishes we might have had, to become a child again. Of course I grew up with these songs of peace, and throughout the years it seems we have been going back and forth between hope and despair. I have added the Weaver’s version of “The strangest dream” to remember Fred Hellerman who died last week.

September 6, 2016

32 responses to “Wishful thinking”

  5. Ah, we used the same title, my friend. This line is especially timely here — “our paws-in-pocket-pundits
    beloved rulers of the world.”
    It’s a great prompt — and I’m glad to be back. Took a few days respite from the journal and the web — looking forward to some good reading today! 🙂

  7. I love that song. I have a version recorded by Johnny Cash.
    I suspect that it will take more than wishes to accomplish what you have wished for in this wonderful poem.

  10. Oh, heavens. I wish all this, and more. So deeply.

    I adore this:
    “for hands that raise us all”

    And the whimsical twists and turns that your words take, the sound bumps they make…all belying the serious wishes within. Wonderful.

  11. Like Lillian, you hooked me with the /pundits/ lines. “I wish I may, I wish I might”…terrific prompt today. Wishing for world peace, however, seems ineffective, like throwing a rock at the moon.

  15. I hung on to every word of this. Sometimes it does get so dark that the light of any wishes seems futile. This is so powerful and definitely will be a favorite for me.

  20. great wishes, Björn 🙂 beautifully written
    I wish for least a silver lining,
    a glass that’s more
    than half, I wish for ease of light,
    for peace and rights,
    for nights of sleep,
    and depth of thoughts

  24. What a powerful response – it really resonated with my own wishes (fulfilled and unfulfilled). I think the 2nd stanza captured me the most:
    “I wish I had more restless vigor,
    urge of yearning,
    a will to hope and thrill to cope,
    instead of this, my listless rigor.”

    Thank you for sharing!

  25. I wish I could write poetry like this – stupendous -and I like the way the rhythm picked up after listless vigour as though the wishing had aroused so much more to wish for

  27. I hear you. Sometimes wishing is itself a chore. 🙂

    I like the sound and rhythm of your poem, and all the wishes are somethings I wish we can all attain. That good night’s sleep – that will be good to have even when the world around us is crazy.

  31. Your use of idioms and rhyme has rendered a clever and compelling – very creative, original – piece. I wouldn’t call it political satire, exactly, but it has a nursery-rhyme (many of which began as veiled political comments) vibe to it that, I think, sends it, loosely, in that direction. Awesome!

I try to reciprocate all comments. If you want me to visit a particular post, please direct me directly to that post.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.