A Wish Unmasked
Arthur Newbourne

A stifled pond gathers eggs of shame
and the edge of curiosity begins to dull,
rusting for the blessing of
cool morning mists of challenge
or the scald of the midday sun
to evaporate the boredom of liquids,
leaving empty pockets to collect
the drain of tomorrow’s added skies.

Burrowed in blue sludge, battling
under suffocating layers,
but with proud banks of stepping stones
leading in and out,
a wish gurgles to the muddy surface.

It explodes into the already humid air,
blending and melting into it,
adding to the sum of pressure,
the square root of nothing,
multiplied times an added sky indeed.