I Wish I Could

I wish I could fill my entire house with books
So that wherever I go
Words lettered together track my progress
Page after paragraphs, chapters into the unforgivable silence
that greets a reader in the grips of epiphany.

I wish I could break out of my phone booth
and put on my cape
ready to save the world, the people
not limited by thoughts or images anymore

I wish I could talk to animals
and feel what really goes on in their cortex
Is it envy?
Or do they ostracize our idiosyncrasies?

I wish I could eat and share my sandwich with that boy whose mother forgot to pack his lunch because their house was on fire
I wish I could gather up that little girl, because her heart had been broken.
I wish rainbows and big round bubbles could mend relationships
and chocolate be the only medicine that could cure anything, even cancer and catracts

I wish I could give my energy to old people
hobbling along in their wake
And the happiness that greets me
when their stiff joints function like a bicycle
will provide me my energy which I gave away

I wish I could hunt down that little dog, lying in the forest with his leg oozing blood
and I wish I could put my hand on it and the cut would disappear
I wish I had John Coffey's skill
The life of a healer

I wish this world would look like a giant big red apple
to children and people and animals
So that way, we can always be reminded
At the first bite, it starts receding slowly
until only the seeds are left
ready to be planted into the soil, to give birth to new red apples
thus beginning life all over again

I wish this message be proclaimed by every parent, every teacher into the hearts of their children
Then maybe, just maybe
The world could be a better place after all.