"Close Enough to Love"

You can't see me, but here I sit,
watching you through a wall of glass.
You're so close to me—
close enough to touch, even.
Even if I were to stretch my hand out,
I could not touch you. This invisible barrier
separates, torments, teases.
Like an animal locked away in a cage,
watching freedom pass before its eyes
but unable to attain it.
And why? Cruelty is such a bore
to those who know not what it is
the animal suffers.
They gawk and laugh,
they even mock the poor creature.
And still the animal muses and yearns,
wishing to be closer to that which it desires—
freedom from this cage,
from all the little things in its way.
Wires and muzzles and metal bars:
such mundane restrictions.
Money and status,
family and reputation—
so shallow. The world shows no depth.
The world shows only weakness and futility.
What's so wrong
with lusting after something more substantial?
And after all, such material things
Only last for a moment in life.
They're so fleeting,
so temporary.
What happens when we are all dead and gone?
Those material things will still exist
but will do no good to us.
Therefore, I ask you—
what good are these things?
Such superficial chattels
can result only in heartbreak
and build a wall of glass,
forming a barrier between you and me,
as you work in the garden,
and I sit watching,
close enough to touch.