I wish I was a star
Not the kind on stage
Where crowds and crowds
Shouted and clapped
And every time I looked around
I had another photo shoot
Or interview or somebody wanted me
To do something important…
But the kind floating
Quietly around the sky
Twinkling at the beautiful blue Earth
Or smiling at my cousins on Mars
And when I had the time
Going up to Jupiter and playing with my friends
on one of the Merry-Go-Round strings

Or maybe I’d like to be
A shark swimming
In the middle of the ocean learning
From my big brother just because
The water is warmer it is not
Safer to go too close
To the shore
Humans are not good friends

But most of all I think
I’d like to be a bat
Resting in the caves with my family
My mother teaching me to fly
Without wings
Just to trust her embrace
As we take off at midnight
Some would say we are ugly but mother
Would kiss me
And tell me she loves me
And I am the most wonderful daughter
She ever has had

But mostly I think
If I had just one wish
I would wish
uncle ernie would
STOP

From the November/December 2024 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.

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