Formerly, when I would feel a desire to understand someone, or myself, I would take into consideration not actions, in which everything is relative, but wishes. Tell me what you want and I’ll tell you who you are.”
—Anton Chekov
Many of us have dropped a coin into a fountain, captured an eyelash on our cheek, or blown dandelion seeds to the wind—and a wish was made. From shooting stars to blowing out birthday candles, humankind has been making wishes since time immemorial. What is the significance of making wishes?
Wishing can be considered one part of a cultural account, that people’s wishes usually model their feelings and position in society. Wishes are by no means a casual utterance. They are rooted in the condition of our present lives and in our unique temperaments. A wish can illuminate the literal and symbolic meaning of our inner world.
The wishes we make are a barometer of the heart.
Try It: Wish poetry
Think of a time when you made a wish. Did you blow out candles on a birthday cake, drop a coin into a well, or wish upon a star? Were you a child or all grown up? Try to remember the moment and recreate it with poetry.
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Featured Poem
Thanks to everyone who participated in last week’s poetry prompt. Here is a poem from Rick of astrophysics personified:
Chandrasekhar Limit
The Chandrasekhar limit, a theory advanced by Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, is ascribed to a star with the maximum mass a white dwarf star can be without eventually exploding
in the blinding flash of a super nova.
Perhaps I shine brightest now,
but my energy has changed;
what I know is difficult to know
in simple space and time;
passion is a system dying,
if not making new.
Precious is a luxury,
a jewel with maintenance.
I am a white dwarf, long in the truth
of life and death, weighted with mission
that follows me like a shadow,
a penumbra I must now leave behind.
This is the way of creation, nothing
begets nothing. Darkness moves me
into the light.
—by Rick Maxson
Photo by Hernán Piñera. Creative Commons via Flickr.
Browse more writing prompts
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Browse more Wishes & Stars poems
How to Write a Poem uses images like the buzz, the switch, the wave—from the Billy Collins poem “Introduction to Poetry”—to guide writers into new ways of writing poems. Excellent teaching tool. Anthology and prompts included.
“How to Write a Poem is a classroom must-have.”
—Callie Feyen, English Teacher, Maryland
- Form It: Little Lamb Poetry Prompt - March 26, 2018
- Poetry Prompt: Misunderstood Lion - March 19, 2018
- Animate: Lions & Lambs Poetry Prompt - March 12, 2018
Katie says
To wish upon
a post it note
is more than fun
it’s pure-ty hope
Write upon the square
place it on the wall
no wish too much to bear
none considered too small
Just stand right up
and pen it there
Do you want a pup?
Wish him out of thin air!
Would you rather a kitten?
Then write it out
As if you’re smitten
Make that wish, don’t pout!
You’re hoping for a car
well Santa’s getting near
Just look upon that star
and wish it to appear!
Oh, you said a boat,
Okay, then spell your dream
And write it on a post it note
For wish-fulfillment needs a team;)
Katie says
Would this work any better for the 2nd verse?
Write upon the square
place it on the wall
not one too much too bear
no wish too silly or small
Heather Eure says
Katie, I like the line “…then spell your dream”. To me, this has possibility as a wish poem, too. Dreams large and left unspoken. How should a wish be expressed?
What do you think?
Katie says
Thank you, Heather:)
And thanks for these questions.
Here are some thoughts I’ve been thinking:
“Then Spell your DREAM”
Dance, sing
Read Chesterton
Energy enough
Asleep/awake
Magic awaits.
&
watercolor paints
brushes of every size
landscapes so lovely
&
Write love
and truth, calling
seekers to dig and delve
search and research to find the way
Homeward.
Brandon Ezzard says
I really like the poem. Do you have more you post somewhere? 😀
Katie says
Thank you, Brandon.
I don’t have a website, but do have a printed collection of poems you can order here:
http://www.J2BLLC.com
Rick Maxson says
Thank you, Heather for featuring my poem.
Using another Jerry McGuire takeaway: as I said under the prompt, supernovas complete me.
Heather Eure says
I’m with you. Show me the supernovas!! 🙂
Brandon Ezzard says
I wish she were mine;
yes, the decree of the king;
my solemn promise written on a document
to be sung like the Song of Solomon
by only the sweetest of psalmist living.
What do you desire, my lovely?
Ask, and you shall receive
up to half of the kingdom.
She is my Esther the Queen.
I am her Artaxerxes.
She may say the word and every
Haman shall be done away with.
I wish to adopt 10 sons,
and have two more like Jacob and Rachel;
She makes me feel like a new man.
In my heart I am transformed.
Before I met her I was Jacob.
When I laid eyes on her I became Israel,
for I have sought God like David,
having once been like Nabal,
met Goliath and slain him,
and have gained an Abigail.
Such an one is a God-send,
a blessing from above.
I wish I were one with her,
subject to her like a king to a kingdom,
anoint her head
with the kiss of gladness,
and wash her feet
with my tears of happiness
while on bended knee.
She’s come down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride dressed for her husband,
she my New Jerusalem.
She is intriguing to figure out,
a mystery I’d love to solve.
She’s been built with the building blocks of life.
she is my Rubik’s Cube of Love.
Her twelve gates
are like before, during, after,
beginning, middle, and end,
past, present, and future,
body, soul, and spirit.
I liken seeing her for the first time
like seeing for the first time.
I wish she’d take my right hand of fellowship
and hold my hand, for then I shall recover.
At the revelation of my bride,
even because the knowledge of my love,
I am bouncing like a bunny in spring,
even leaping and praising God.
She is a servant to all,
therefore the chiefest,
and has humbled herself like a child,
therefore is greatest in the kingdom.
I have found the good mustard seed
hidden in the field planted, watered,
and there she is, my life-tree.
I have sold all to get this pearl,
counting it nothing for my girl,
yes, a pearl of great price,
for you, my wife, are a great find.
I wish to be like our child can be,
close to her, swinging on a swing,
get shade while in the trysting place,
and find rest from the heat.
She is quite the catch.
She is my lovely fish.
For her, I’d take on Leviathan
to try and get her into my net.
I wish for her soft chin
to tenderly rest upon the top of my head,
her arms wrapped around me,
and her every tear of consolation,
the understanding of my pain
is like a drop of water for my tongue,
and I go from a rich man in Hades,
to a Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom.
I have fallen into the waters of love,
to a place out of this world,
and the Spirit Himself
has come upon me like a dove.
Heather Eure says
Brandon, this is a lovely wish poem. Full of divine metaphor for your exalted one. Thanks for sharing it with us!
Prasanta says
I agree with Heather, and I think that the object of your poem would be delighted to have these words written for her.
Prasanta says
When 19 at the Fontana Di Trevi
When I was 19
at the Fontana Di Trevi
I tossed in three coins
with the right hand
over the left shoulder
I lost track of where they landed
among hundreds of copper and silver bits
splattered like a random mosaic
on the fountain’s floor
I walked on then
through the long, narrow piazza
past the hungry pigeons
to the rest of the day, the rest of Italy
and the rest of my life
If the bits were underwater, drowning
they’d still catch fire, blaze,
transform, materialize
in a far-off future
or so it goes with magic and wishes
But years later
I’d find out the true charge for dreams
I’d collect a bag of gold and toss it all in
For friendship, love, happiness
Would it cost extra
for a certain pair of eyes
because tears and time
are too high of a price to pay
I’d drop in as many shiny, crisp coins needed
to end poverty, hunger,
cancer, disease
Tell me the cost
to end refugees’ wandering
and to build the homeless a home
What is the price to pay,
Fontana Di Trevi,
to end racial divides
and for men to respect women
as fellow creatures of dignity
I’ve been saving coins and wishes
ever since the day
I heard it on the news
since I saw you fleeing
since I saw you weeping
And I’ve been saving
for my own lonely heart
When 19
you think three coins is enough
At 19
it’s all you’ve got
But when you’re older
you’d gather all the gold of this world
and dump it in the fountain of wishes
if that’s all it took
Brandon Ezzard says
What a wonderful, beautiful poem this is! How long have you been writing? Do you have more posted somewhere else?
Prasanta says
Thank you for those kind words and for asking, Brandon. I sometimes post poetry here: https://pathoftreasure.wordpress.com/
Donna says
when our dance was done
I wished I could wish you there
standing real
on the other side of
my unopened eyes
Brandon Ezzard says
Short and lovely. I like it a lot 😀
Donna says
Thank you, Brandon. 🙂 I like your’s too.
Brandon Ezzard says
Do you have a place where there is more of it?
Donna Falcone says
Thank you for asking, Brandon. 🙂 You can find some on my blog: http://www.donnazfalcone.com/poetry
Dan Julian says
Writing,
I bring carefully into existence
Some personal sense of what is or could be
Hoping my words will find purchase in others’ minds.
Donna Falcone says
Hi Dan – thanks for stopping by and writing with us today!
I really like that first line especially – carefully bring into existence. It brings an artist’s working to mind. I like your poem. 🙂
Dan Julian says
thanks!