I Wish I Were... Poem by G, E. Gorfu

I wish I were a turtle,
To lay my eggs so fertile
And trudge away and never look back
My progeny to find their destiny
In dry, hot desert, or ocean freeze…
No need to raise them up
Or pay for college fees…

I wish I were a mother bear
To sleep for half a year
Deep in the darkness of my den
Blissful in a dream world
Knowing no pain of labor
My cubs are delivered
What is epidural for?

I wish I were a cicada
To lay my brood deep in the soil
Beneath a flowering jacaranda
And seventeen years of slumber, no toil
Hatch out in chorus and amorous flirt
And even after a nuclear blast
Rise up out of the dust…

I wish I were an albatross
Thousands of leagues of oceans cross
Sleeping on wings and making sport
Of thunderous storms and human borders
Without a Visa or Passport
Who cares for a fence or a wall?
I'd mock them all! I'd mock them all!

G. E. Gorfu