When I looked at you

When I looked at you
I could see us,
Together.

For the first time,
In a very long time,
I didn’t see Billy Collins’
Duck/Rabbit
When I looked at someone –
When I looked at you;
Oh no:
When I looked at you,
I saw only us.

I saw us doing little things –
Sharing an ice-cream cone;
Taking a walk along the beach
    on a bright sunny day;
Sitting under a café’s patio umbrella
    chatting on and on about everything,
    about nothing,
    our fingers loosely linked –
Scenes out of a movie,
Everything I’ve always wanted;
And you,
You completed the picture,
Made everything picture-perfect.

So I looked at you.
I loved looking at you;
I could look at you for long,
    breathless moments –
Maybe even
Forever.

And that was the problem.

I had spent so much time just
Looking at you,
I never did anything at all
To bring you to me,
To bring about a we,
An us.

In the end,
We could not even be
The incongruous Duck/Rabbit pair;
You are somewhere far away,
I am nowhere.

I can't even look at you now -
Much less forever,
Much less see us together.