if fishes...

the great poet rapper skee lo writes:

"I wish I was little bit taller, I wish I was a baller
I wish I had a girl who looked good, I would call her
I wish I had a rabbit in a hat with a bat, and a '64 Impala"

he's not really great. but he wishes he was.

in "nobody's fool", richard russo gives us Rub, a hard luck case, whose wishes fill up the minor space of his half life:

"I wisht I didn't have to work on Thanksgiving."

"I just wisht I had money for a donut. one of them big ole cream-filled deals."

but even in getting the donut, rub's thwarted, cuz he's sure the waitress has given him the smallest one on purpose.

such is the ephemera of wishes, you can get what you wish for and still feel cheated. i read a script about a genie who grants a woman, roughly my age and demographic, three wishes. and you know what she goes for?

a dog. a new car. dinner in a parisienne cafe.

this doesn't resonate for me at all. but, then, i'm naturally dubious about magic wishes. having watched too many episodes of twilight zone where your wishes fuck you over, with a hat trick and a back door. you wish for power and find yourself recast as hitler in his death bunker. wish for money and find the tax man all over your ass. wish for sex and find aids.

what would i really wish for? what do i really wish for? world peace? inner peace? a really hot piece?

jeff tweedy croons:

"all my lies are only wishes. i know i would die if i could come back new."

what about you?