It's really human of you:

16 candles 

close your eyes 
make a wish 
bury it under the driveway for no one to find 

breathe in the sky 
and out
a naive hope 
that birthday candles will secure 
a happily ever after 

or new shoes 

whichever comes first 

and hope it's the shoes 
so when neither arrive 
on your front stoop 

the disappointment 
shoved up your nose 
doesn't drip down your throat and 
drown you 

but again you will wish 
with your hands 
on every stone that gets
lodged in your shoe

on pen caps 
and planets 

saving the scraps of paper 
from fortune cookies 

lucky numbers: 12, 5, 67, 23, 2, 9

close your eyes 
make a wish
bury it under the driveway for no one to find