Key

For you,

The porch light glows

The door, unlocked.

Well, not unlocked,

But say the word,

And you will have a key

Because you do have a key

To more than just

A door.

Calm

Quiet

Articulate

Sarcastic

Poetic

Self-assured

Hard as steel

Soft as down

Resolve like none I’ve ever seen

In anyone

But you

Laughter didn’t blast itself

Against an eardrum

Like mine often does

It spills out of you

The way a brook

Tumbles over stones

No rushing river

No crashing waterfalls

Just tumbling

Tumbling

Tumbling over stones

Invitingly

“Come and slip

Bare feet in here.

Tiptoe over pebbles

To the center of the stream

And let the water tickle your

Calves

So you will also laugh.”

You aren’t the glaring sunshine

But you exude its warmth

You aren’t invisible like a breeze

Yet I feel you just the same

Once, your hand swept over me

Knowingly.

I know you

Yet I do not know you.

A cavern, you.

Hidden walkways

Winding downward

Into darkness

Begging someone

Trustworthy to

Approach with a lantern

And

Accept.

Nature speaks your name

My heartbeat speaks your name

I live for the sound of your voice

To caress my hearing

One

More

Time

And that is why….

The reason why…

For you,

The porch light glows

The door, unlocked.

Well, not unlocked,

But say the word,

And you will have a key

Because you do have a key

To more than just

The door.

ajp

4/2019