Ignorance is bliss

I never wanted to know

when your friend told me

years ago

I walked away

ears deaf

to an ugly truth

I could not believe

indeed

I would not

let it soil

my reality,

I wanted to live

only

in the world we built

where we loved

happily

ever

after.

Gone now

so long

alone with

my grief

I empty

the room

where we loved

a lifetime.

Under the bed,

our bed,

I find a

dust-covered

scrap of silk

and lace

I never owned.

My heart

frozen with grief

thaws

burns

and turns to ash

in that moment

of revelation

before

I stuff

the lie

in a black plastic

garbage bag

along with

all the other

meaningless

trash

I never wanted know.