[This piece dates back to 1991. It was written after a Larkinesque cycling trip to various churches in the villages surrounding Oxford]

Until I stumbled upon this one, the thought of a wishing well had not crossed my mind for many years.  I would have overlooked this one too had my attention not been drawn to it by a helpful sign informing that, along with the churchyard wall, the wishing well had recently been fully restored.

An ancient site; predating the Christianity around it; now restored for tourists and churchgoers. I sat on its rim. It was made quite safe; its sheer drop protected by iron grills. I decided I should make a wish. From my pocket I picked a 20p piece. Because of its polygonal shape and because all 20ps still look newish shiny; don’t predate decimalisation. And because, on a bad day, 20p would be quite a loss. I tossed it in through one of the squares in the already rusted grill and made my wish.

I wished that XXX XXXXX XXXX       XX XXXX XX XX XXXX XX X XXXX XXX.

We should note here a number of difficulties attendant upon the making of a wish. Assuming that a wish is framed and phrased in thought alone, secretly – is not, like a spell, said out loud – is it not difficult to determine at what stage in the course of the accompanying ritual activity the unspoken wish should properly be inserted: just before the coin leaves one’s grasp, as it falls silently through the well, or when, with or without a splash, it reaches the bottom-most depths of the well?

Furthermore, once one has decided on the correct juncture, is it not almost impossible not to think the wish too early or to continue thinking it too long after the felicitous moment has passed?

Most worrying of all, however, one can never know, whether some perverse unconscious wish might not have supervened to usurp the real wish at the last moment.

So, I can only say that I believe I wished that XXX XXXXX XXXX XX XXXX XX XX XXXX XX X XXXX XXX.

*

My coin clanked and came to rest in a litter of discarded Harp cans.  Other people’s dreams.  Ending with a Baudelairean ring.

Upwey Wishing Well Image by Chris Downer [Source: Wikimedia Commons]