paperwishes

Paperwishes

Wilhelmina Esparanza Anna Jacomini

at windowsill sat folding fortunes plentiful and teeny

and to each stranger who'd pass by

she'd drop a fortune from the sky

a crane would land upon their head

or paper plane upon which read

a future in black ink forseen

to one tired woman dressed in green

"tonight you'll loose your goose"...she thought

"well first the groceries must be bought"

and practical as ever went

then headed home her money spent

her arms both filled with grocery sacks

she waddled past a door with clacks

and clicks emerging from inside

and then and there she would decide

to loose her goose and all her pride

in one swift smooth electric slide

a man aloft her groove would fancy

and from the pocket in his pants he

pulled an origami crane

and thought "dear God am I insane?"

and read aloud its fateful claim

"tonight you'll meet that special dame"

he caught her cleanly in mid-flight

and whisked her off into the night

for cocoa and a slice of pie

he looked her long and in the eye

and noticed not the waiter gone

alone and strolling out t'ward dawn

a crumpled notice in his hand

"a treasure soon at your command"

a crackled calling in the night

brought his attention to the flight

of a parrot who would rest

upon his shoulder and divest

his owner's name and street address

where he might return to his nest

and so the two they sauntered on

until they reached where they'd belong

and rang the door bell one, two, three

to which answered "who can it be?"

an open door revealed a man

with a peg for a leg and a hook for a hand

and when he saw with one glass eye

his bird returned he set to cry

and his pirate's map he did unwind

whereon it read "a friend you'll find"

he beamed and winked and with great pleasure

bestowed the waiter with all his treasure

the bird alighted to the door

upon his perch he sat once more

and watched a girl go meet the bus

to whom he yelled "hello gorgeous"

she paused and read her paper clue

"a voice tonight will speak words true"

at her reflection she stopped to smile

and smoothed her hair for quite a while

once off the bus she purchased a treat

that she shared with a cat that she met on the street

it followed her home and clear up to the gloom

of her sad little sister alone in her room

at the knock Willy turned from her work at the sill

she smiled as the kit warmed away any chill

and she grinned even wider at her last fortune written

"your wish will come true, you'll receive a new kitten."

©2008 Hillary Swanson. All rights reserved.