The Three Wishes

Gone astray in the desert,

Perishing of hunger and thirst

On a quest for deliverance,

In a place so desolately cursed

I happened to come across,

Half buried in the sand

A lamp of gleaming gold,

Which I stroked with my hand

And from within, arose a Djinn,

Heralded by a few swishes

Terrifyingly, to me, bellowing,

‘Master you have three wishes!’

Pretending to seem unperturbed,

I sternly said aloud

‘Djinn, at once, cure my famish’,

To which he merely bowed

Lo! I found, before me,

A feast and a beautiful Oasis around

I drank and ate to my heart’s content,

As the Djinn stood sans a sound

Then for my second I wished,

To be conveyed to the nearest city

Though I noticed the Djinn’s eyes,

Replete with puzzlement and pity

The very next instant transformed,

My dismal surroundings utterly, I found

As I Stood in the heart of a metropolis,

Which, did not fail, to greatly astound

As I stirred, to make a wish,

This one, my third and last

I was interrupted by the Djinn,

For a question, he politely asked

“Why, when dear Master,

Anything, you could have sought

Did you wish for a mere banquet and,

For yourself, to a city, to be brought?”

Reflecting over his query,

I said “Djinn! Quit trying to Balk!

Now, grant me three more wishes,

Then, maybe, we’ll talk”

-Kartik Shastry