Privileged to Have Known You

I weep for you –
A long lost friend,
Like a faded memory,
Of when we would play pretend –

A familiar street
Where I used to roam,
When my youth shielded me from your bitter truth
And the street lights led me home –

But with time my eyes were opened
And you did not look the same –
An empty ache still plagues me,
Something I cannot quite name –

It makes me weep –
The past that I was privileged to know,
An illusion that did not see the pain,
Just shades of perception, my ego –

Oh, America of my childhood, you shifty fellow,
You shady lady; I see you now in the shadows
Mocking me for my naiveté — and awareness —
Promising that I shall know no repose.

– USA Abstract by AK Rockefeller .