Wishes for Narcissists

after lucille clifton’s wishes for sons

i wish you ramps.
i wish you a strange town
and a slippery glass of water.
i wish you dry tongue.

i wish you time limits.

later i wish you solitary confinement
in an empty room with only a flower
& the tao te ching.
let the insights come and no one
special to tell.

let you become a poet in the end.

let the eyes of someone dying
contain the only reflective surface
in your world.

[on the occasion of a world leader’s timid ramp walk,
West Point Military Academy, June 13, 2020]