Just One Wish Poem by Aminath Neena

If I had a genie in a lamp

And just one wish

To make,

I would

Ask

Him

To scan the entire creation

Regardless of age

Race

And creed

To find me



A man

Who would

See through my external façade

And love me for who I am

The way, I would love him



And in two decades

from now



A man

Who would still hold my hand

When these bones get weary

Narrowed and depleted

The way I would hold him, even so



A man

Who would still gaze at me, lovingly

When these dimpled

Mellow cheeks

Become

Hollow

and crumpled peaches

The way I would, gaze at him, even then



A man

Who would caress these silky strands

Though they would have lost

Texture, colour and lustre

The way I would caress him

Bald or grey, no matter



A man

Who would still hunger me

As a ripened fruit

When the soil within my garden, lie barren

The way, I would lust for him, still

With diminishing vigour and youth



A man

Who would be my note-pad

With mental impotence and amnesia

As malignant shadows on the horizon

The way I would be his pencil

always ready, with a sharpened tip



A man

Who would still treasure this rose

Though my petals would have browned

And withered with the changing tide

Along with the autumn winds

The way I would treasure him, abide



A man

Who would share my joy and pain


Be there

for love and protection

keeping me safe from the puddles


The way I would bear his burdens

and care

to ease the hurdles

In rain or shine



A man

Who would one day meet me

At heaven’s gate

To be reunited once again

With this earthly maiden

Despite other countless blessings

The way I would, welcome him again



But since

Genies in lamps

Only appear in fairy tales

I hereby enclose this message in a glass bottle

Gently placing it in the deep blue sea

With a prayer in my heart

Amen