My Wish

I wish for a soundless starry night

I wish for the calm jade green ocean, jogging smoothly
along the San Francisco Bay

I wish for you to love your enemies, bless those who curse
you, do good for those who hate you, and pray for those who
spitefully use you.

I wish for eternal happiness, like the color which stays
forever on the evergreens.

I wish for every frown in the world to turn upside down.

I wish for sunflowers, tulips, and cherry blossoms
to sing to each other.

I wish for the slaughtering of innocent lives to end.

I wish for interminable friendship, like the diamond stars
which are linked forever together
in the boundless sky.

I wish for laughter in Sudan, Germany, Alaska, Australia,
and Bolivia.

I wish for the sun to rise out of its hiding place every dawn
to bring warmth and joy to every place in the world.

---

Joanne Lum, age 14
2008 Finalist
San Francisco, California
Lowell High School
Teacher: Susan Terence (California Poets in the Schools)