An Explorer's Soul

If wishes grew on trees,

I would pluck a leaf every week,

And ride it to a new place,

with old friends;

I would scale the majestic peaks

and when it grew too cold,

I would swing by to the rainforests,

to sleep to the sound of the thrumming raindrops.

I would pray to a God that I haven’t heard of

and absorb a culture different from mine,

but when I yearn for the familiar,

I would pluck a leaf and go back to the cocoon 

from where I was formed.

I would shiver in the cold

and question good, on witnessing evil,

only to make another turn where

warmth is spread through smiles.

If wishes grew on trees,

I would pluck a leaf every week,

And ride it to a new place, 

with old friends;

For I have to smile and weep, 

to lose my way and find it somewhere,

to share a meal, to create memories,

in every place with air to breathe.

~Rishika Sudhir Dhody