M & J Monday

We woke up in the usual way,

but it was not a usual day.

Out on the lawn,

plain as could be,

stood an orange wishing tree.

"I wish!" said I.

"I wish!" said you.

And so, our double wishes grew.

I kept my wish a secret one,

but you were not so shy.

You clapped your hands,

jumped off the bed, and said,

"I WISH TO FLY!!!"

In just a whistle's worth of time

and not a second more,

our feet were not attached to ground

the way they'd been before.

Up we went, just you and me,

high above the wishing tree.

We flew in silence,

like the birds.

It was too beautiful for words.

But your wishing wasn't done.

Why should you just stop with one?

In the valley, far below,

down where all the wishes grow,

your wishes grew, both big and small,

till I could hardly count them all.

In fact, I barely got to ten

because you wished for breakfast then.

"I wish," you said,

and just like that,

the friends you wished for

came and sat.

"I wish! I wish! I wish!"

you shouted.

Wishes bowed...

and played...

and sprouted.

Every wish was wishable...

even you, invisible.

But as the day began to end,

your wishes became quieter then.

I saw your silly sleepy head

was wishing it was back in bed.

And so, I did what parents do.

I picked you up and carried you.

As you drifted off to sleep, you whispered,

"Did your wish come true?"

I whispered back, "My little one,

my wish was just to be with you."

You and Me and the Wishing Tree

~Nancy Tillman