by Michelle N. Broughton

Created on: June 11, 2008

I WISH I MAY

"I wish I may; I wish I might
have the wish I wish tonight."
Every night I watch the sky,
praying to each flashing light.
Take me from this horror real
far away from coal and steel.
Bring me to a world of joy,
for this brief time I'm a boy.

Take away the fear of dark
shafts of work grim and stark.
Bring me to a world of light,
greeting mornings shining bright.
Wash blackened dust from my hands,
guide me toward distant lands.
Give me mum a better choice,
Return the laughter to her voice.

She's lost me dad to old black lung;
now she's cold and shrill of tongue.
She shoves me out the door each day,
fear eating her youth and life away.
Brilliant star falling to earth,
can you give our lives new birth?
A foolish boy, a foolish question,
you can't control your own destination.

Wafting through the black of space,
caught in gravity's savage race,
you're pulled down from heaven's gate
rushing toward a fiercesome fate.
A fiery death lies just ahead,
but you show no sign of dread.
Still, I envy seeing you free,
In the mines waits death for me.

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