Fool's Gold

We stand apart
Separated
By a river of shining amber liquid
Foaming and frothing as it flows by.
It promises intoxication,
Nights free of problems and worries
Teeming with forgetfulness
Like the River Lethe.
If I don't look down
I can pretend it's not there.
I can reach out,
Touch your hand,
Look you in the eye.
But all the while
I can hear the river
Trickling by in my subconscious
Below my feet
Yet in my ears.
If I look down
I see emptiness
A substance I don't understand
The color of gold
Deceitful, pretentious
Like a viceroy butterfly
That can only play at being royalty.
If you look down
You look with curiosity.
The river holds appeal and mystery to you.
You admire the waves and the foam,
Gazing at your reflection on the rippling surface.
You long to drink from it--
To stop remembering,
To stop thinking.
I can look in your eyes
Blue, the color of a true river
And remember a better time
When this river did not exist.
There is no bridge across its treacherous flow.
We are close now,
But will the banks widen,
Will you be out of reach?
I can't say
But I do know
That my innocence has been lost
To a river of amber and gold.