Wish List of a Youngest Daughter

Off and on, I’ve been wishing

my Dad and I could go fishing.

I guess my sister could go along

so long as she does nothing wrong

like catch a fish bigger than mine

or tease or hum or brag or whine.

Perhaps she’ll sit back in the bed

and not up in the cab instead,

so Dad and I can be alone—

the truck a sort of “private zone.”

He’ll hit the bumps real hard so she

will wish she were in front with me.

Just like I always pray and pray

her friends and she will let me stay

with them, when they come for the night

and play without me, door shut tight.

Marvelous fun had down the hall,

but not with me. I am too small.

That’s why, when Dad tells me a joke,

I’ll laugh real loud until I choke;

and my sister, sitting there behind

might feel left out, but I don’t mind.

And when we get to where we’re going,

to the stock dam, cattle lowing,

Dad will bait my hook for me

and sister, too, and then we’ll see

who will catch the biggest fish.

I guess it’s obvious that my wish

is that I’ll catch the biggest one,

and sister will go home with none!

––Judy Dykstra-Brown—