Planned Ignorance

The way you paused,

then lowered your voice, just a shade.

My stomach went tight.

I knew the code, the small, specific phrase

you’d use to make it disappear, to make it fade.

But I tilted my head, slightly, like a dog

hearing a new sound. A little furrow

in my brow, a careful, blank fog.

I even shrugged, a tiny, almost innocent burrow

into misunderstanding. Oh, the shallow grave

I dug for truth.

It was easier that way, for everyone, to save

whatever fragile peace. My youth

wore off, but the habit sticks.

This careful, chosen blindness, these small tricks.