The Ritual of Wishes

The story goes
that a man wishes something away
without understanding its integral importance.

He watches as his life swirls into chaos without this thing
and is lucky enough to wake up
in the forgiving arms of sleep.

What really happens to us
is that we slowly rub ourselves against the grindstone
trying to dissolve our faults,

every day we hope that life
can grind us down
to the essence of our true selves.

We hope, too,
to get the things that we want
but we know

that a wish
like a rainbow
has no tail end.

The eyelash falls
the dandelion scatters
11:11 jumps to 11:12

and life
moves on.