Fake

A story I once read in school
Described a woman – what a fool!
Who threw her life away – for what?
To try to be what she was not.

Her husband got an invitation
For a ball, above their station;
She spent all they did possess
To buy herself a special dress.

But that was not enough for her;
She couldn’t leave things as they were.
She borrowed from a wealthy friend
A necklace, so she could pretend

She owned the diamonds at her throat.
She felt so good it made her gloat;
But at night’s end, the gems were lost –
She paid in years for what it cost.

She didn’t tell her friend the truth,
But sacrificed her health and youth;
Took twenty years to pay her debt,
Her life consumed by her regret.

The twist we learn, at the conclusion,
Is that truth is an illusion;
Though her suffering was real,
Her friend, years later, does reveal

The diamonds were just made of paste.
All her toiling was a waste.
How ironic, when we learn
It’s sometimes better not to yearn.

I thought about this tale because
A necklace purchased gave me pause.
I’ll wear it, but make no mistake,
I’m proud to say my choker’s fake!