The Genie Mystery
You rub the lamp
And, in a puff of smoke,
A genie appears;
Sometimes girl, sometimes bloke.
And then, in exchange
For some liberating task
They promise to grant
Any three things you ask.
Invariable, the winner
Of this oil-lamp sport
Chooses badly
And is left with nought.
I don’t understand why,
After two sad misses,
The lucky lamp-rubber
Didn’t ask for more wishes.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery
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Print this post
You rub the lamp
And, in a puff of smoke,
A genie appears;
Sometimes girl, sometimes bloke.
And then, in exchange
For some liberating task
They promise to grant
Any three things you ask.
Invariable, the winner
Of this oil-lamp sport
Chooses badly
And is left with nought.
I don’t understand why,
After two sad misses,
The lucky lamp-rubber
Didn’t ask for more wishes.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery
---
I'm not sure that the Genie Control Board would let you have your wishes anyway. They do have a code of ethics, you know.
ReplyDeleteOr ice cream, pizza, and a high metabolism.
ReplyDeleteOh, the Arab magic flagon. :)
ReplyDeleteHealth is the Greatest Happiness
The World at The Present
it's not so that we would burn
ReplyDeletein our bad choices, don't you see?
But rather so that we learn,
None are enough, be it one, two or three.
Be careful what you ask for,it may not be what is heard
by the well meaning wish giver, eh?
If you ask to fly, he may change you into a bird.
Everyone knows genies won't grant a wish for more wishes, silly. It's in the Genie Code.
ReplyDeleteI've often wondered that myself.
ReplyDeleteNot allowed. Diane has it right.
ReplyDeleteRub a dub dub
J Cosmo's hit the nub
of the matter, as usual...
oh .. these mysteries of the mythical universe!
ReplyDeleteperplexing ..
now i won't be able to sleep all night.
Always, always ask for more wishes. Not everyone adheres to a code and you might be the lucky one that gets the rogue genie! As my mom always says: the worst they'll do is say no!
ReplyDeleteI'd ask for a redo or tell the genie my first three wishes were just for practice - and then I'd smile pretty.
ReplyDeleteWhat are my chances for this to work?
I think everyone's right about not being able to wish for more wishes, but what if you wished that you never made your first two wishes? Then you'd get to redo those, right? I think that's the acceptable loophole.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand why not either, J. Cosmo!! We should write our own tales. Thanks for linking to Poetry Jam.
ReplyDeleteha ha
ReplyDeletethis is brilliant
thanx for a hearty laugh at the end of a dumb day
That wouldn't leave a mystery then, would it?
ReplyDeleteNice tale, sad but, such is life :)
LOL I have always thought my first wish would be more wishes! And really most of those lamp rubbers really have never had much imagination in my book. The big picture is what they always seem to miss! Thanks for visiting Poetry Jam
ReplyDeleteA fairy tale take on the prompt this week! Stellar!
ReplyDeleteI am with Peggy on this my first wish would have to be more wishes....Love this poem!!
ReplyDeleteA magic lamp... Three would be enough for me. It would have to do with dishes, laundry and dusting... :)
ReplyDeleteThis flows so well. I especially like the last two lines.
ReplyDeleteha that would def seem logical but...there are those clauses in the contract you know...smiles....really nice flow to this...
ReplyDelete