Watered Wishes

The fountain gurgles, cherubs grimace,

A gaggle of tourists, coins in hand.

A splash, a clatter, then the premise

Of wishes sinking, drowned and planned.

They sink to muck, a duller gleam,

Lost to the murky, algae-thick.

Each coin a broken, watery dream,

A silent, useless, final trick.

The streetlights bleed their fractured gold

Across the surface, shifting, vast.

A story that can’t be told,

A future buried in the past.

Just metal settling, cold and deep.

Secrets to keep.