Not a Love Poem

I could write love poems about us for a lifetime
How it could have been
Would have been
If only it had played out differently,
How we’ve pretended all this time,
It isn't there between us.
We are too busy smiling,
Laughing
Playing games like two old pals
Who dance around that past, that night
That choice
Even if we both know it was the right one.

The problem is, right isn't always easy
That's why it’s here sometimes—
A fount of heat, a life of love
The secret burning in your eyes
Even though you know, I know,
We know
Not to play that part.
That love is gone, forsaken
A distant memory of a long ago past
The answer to a question
We cannot ask
Again.

So, here we are, playing a new game
Turning around the right answer
The good answer
The one that lets us pretend
We are blind to this
For yet another day
That we were never meant to be
A love poem—
Just the ghost of words left on the page
For a lifetime
Of love poems past.