All I Ever Wished For
By John Herlihy

All I ever wished for:
All I ever longed for and felt,
To discover what I was made of,
To explore beyond the edge of life’s shelf.

Deep down, all I ever wanted:
All I ever dreamed of in idle reverie,
To roam to the far ends of the earth,
Captured by the sublime act of discovery,

What do people wish for,
What do they hope to devise?
The world is there for the taking,
Sometimes asking for compromise.

I know what some people wish for:
To become princes, kings, or potentates.
Little do they know that they run the risk
Of turning into nothing but soulless reprobates.

I knew one friend who got what he asked for:
To achieve success and the applause of the world.
He ended up living nothing but a loveless life,
From vast heights into the well of misery hurled.

In old age, my life lay behind me,
I now know all that I wished for.
Adding up to accepting the destiny I have lived;
Heaven’s hand offered a destiny, my life to give.

I no longer wish for anything;
I have all I could have ever hoped for.
“All you ever wished for,” the world asked slyly?
“Your gifts offer me no wish,” I said spryly.