V

The Lock

Stories get bigger in the re-telling
I told myself as I walked down
Boulevard at midnight whistling
In the air humming as it sang
With the sound of a thousand water drops
a-flying through the air, my mind buzzing

People get older
Hearts grow colder
I thought quietly as I stepped into
Main street in quiet night with stars
But no cars
In sight

My thoughts grew louder and
More insistent
And something else came to mind
That interrupted

“There’s a lock on a door
In a house my friend lives in
Sometimes when she’s not
Away
And the lock is upside down
And backwards
Don’t know why
Didn’t ask
Should’ve maybe
But didn’t

The door full of tiny holes
Holes that would
Thrill a child
Who might place picked-up ants
To watch them wander on a door
But never go inside”

And as I walked away
With my quiet words
And my louder thoughts
I turn to talk to you

I cannot tell you how
many times I have felt
like that lock