Three Wishes From The Raven

By Onyx

Once, a man was dying, 
from cancer of the bone. 
His every breath was agony,
as he lay there all alone. 
Then through an open window, 
a few feet from his head, 
a raven flew into the room,
and landed near his bed. 
At the sight, the man called out, 
through bitter, salty, tears. 
"My life now ends without one thing to show for all my years!" 
The puzzled raven looked on, 
cocked his head, and blinked his eyes.
When the raven questioned him, 
he was dumbstruck by surprise.
"Are you not glad to see me?" 
"I can end tonight your pain." 
"I can't grasp your logic." 
"Could you please explain?" 
The old man told the raven 
how he'd traveled everywhere. 
He'd taken time for everything 
but learning how to care. 
"All I ever cared about 
was taking all I'd need!" 
"Now I'll die alone...unloved,
as payment for my greed." 
"My bank account is large indeed." 
'None larger will you find." 
"I'd give it all just to recall 
some good I leave behind!" 
The raven felt compassion 
for the man to whom he spoke. 
The greatest magic of his kind 
he chose then to invoke. 
The raven quickly plucked out 
three feathers from his wings. 
"Listen well, he bade the man, 
for these can do great things." 
"As spirits we'll revisit the years of your past life." 
"We'll search where your heart leads us 
for the causes of your strife." 
"Three wishes I will give you." 
"Three, but not one more." 
"You can try to leave things better, 
than you left them once before." 
"When you see a change you'd make, 
give my feather to the wind, 
to take your wish to God above." 
"Wish carefully, my friend.." 
A village in south Asia
was the place the two first came. 
Most soldiers who had fought there 
could not recall it's name. 
"I was here, he told the raven, 
at the age of twenty-one.." 
"I only saw what I was told, 
through the sigh atop my gun.
"The old man chose a feather. 
With a tear, he let it fly. 
In an instant they went traveling 
to other days gone by. 
Their next stop was a tenement, 
falling down from lack of care. 
The man had made a fortune, 
from the poor's unmatched despair. 
More pain than cancer, grief inflicts. 
The man fell to his knees. 
He took a second feather, 
and gave it to the breeze. 
"Come", the raven told him. 
"There are places yet to see." 
"NO", the man said in reply. 
"I know my wish you see." 
He smiled a smile the raven found 
quite hard to understand. 
The man then kissed the feather, 
and released it from his hand. 
Then a second later they were back 
where they'd begun. 
The man was on his death bed. 
His time on earth now done. 
The raven touched him with a wing, 
to set his spirit free. 
Both of them were overjoyed, 
by the change they 
got to see. 
As the spirit left the dying shell, 
a raven it became! 
The spirit, in amazement asked; 
"Is this some sort of game?" 
"Don't you see?" the raven laughed. 
"Your wishes all came true." 
"God gave the first two outright, 
but the last he's left to you." 
"How do you know what I wished?, 
the spirit asked the bird. 
"I kept them all a secret." 
"I never said a word." 
"Not really.", laughed the raven. 
"God told me what he knows." 
"I'll tell you of the places, 
and the wishes that you chose." 
"The time you spent in Vietnam 
still haunted you each night." 
"You wished that village happiness, 
and safety from the fight." 
"In that awful slum we saw, 
you repented from your greed." 
"Your wish was for the people there; 
"Eliminate their need." 
"Your third wish was the toughest, 
but the best of all you see." 
"You asked; "God, please send another chance 
to all who act like me!"
"You could've asked things for yourself, 
and you asked for others still." 
"It's selfless hearts like yours God needs, 
so he can work his will." 
"Your third wish is yours to grant."
"Go it everywhere you can." 
"Seek out the greed you'll recognize,
within the hearts of man." 
"Offer them three wishes, 
as I have done for you." 
"If their hearts are also changed, 
they'll become a raven too." 
So, tip your hats to ravens, 
when you see them in the skies. 
If by chance they drop a feather, 
be sure your wish is wise.

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