Fools Gold

Fools Gold

It all started on a Thursday
I wouldn’t have believed it,
Had I not seen it,
With my own eyes.

I was driving to work,
Through the busy main streets
And there I saw him,
Plain as day.

Dressed as a Jester,
Striped clothing, bells and all
Gold teeth shining, dazzling, blinding
Nearly sending me off the road.

The poor old woman, Zimmer frame’s galore,
She nearly had a heart attack,
When I careered into the wall.
I nearly died myself,
Of embarrassment.

He was stood out side my shop,
Grinning like he was worth a million dollars
I suppose he was.
He looked at me, and through his glass eyes I saw,
His heart of gold.

I stare in amazement, unaware of the crowd slowly gathering
Around me,
We all have wishes, I laugh, granted. But who actually has them, granted?
You wished for gold? I ask, slightly startled now as his hair,
Starts to shine.

He simply nods, and grabs hold of my bag
(Which I have now hidden in the loft, out of fear)
The crowd gasps, as it slowly turns to gold.
And the bottle of water, which he tries to gulp down
Slowly chokes him, drowning him.

You’re paying for my car, I say, edging slowly away from him
As his eyes bulge,
In his head.
No problem, he chokes, and the water bled out, suspended in the air,
Now a fountain of gold.

I left my job soon after,
Unable to walk past him,
Day after day
His greed sickens me still, leaves me speechless,
And ashamed of my hate,
For the fool
Who wished for gold.