Skeleton Key

She holds the key to my heart
But what does it matter
The door’s been wide open from the day we met
She holds it like a skeleton key
Cold and uninviting
But with curiosity for what lies beyond just the same
What’s worse, never knowing
Or knowing the one thing you fear the most is true
And will be
Forever
I hold the key ring to her heart
The door shut tightly, with bolts and chains
The right combination of keys opens bliss
So many keys
So little time
My hand is heavy
My arm is tired
The weight and the wait drag me down
Pull me closer to the floor
Closer to the fire
When I look in her eyes I see my reflection
I see no reflection
Through her eyes
I am nothing

Lemmings

It feels like someone took a vacuum and shoved it down my throat
It feels like someone is stepping on my chest
I can’t breath
I can’t sleep
I can’t scream
I can’t cry
I can’t see
I can’t live
Like lemmings crawling to their doom
I feel like my insides will leap over the edge of my tongue
And fall to their deaths
The race I’m running is long
There’s a finish line in sight
But the more I look at it the smaller I get
My heart drags behind me
Free to be stepped on
Ran over
Chewed up
But I’m so small I can’t lift it on my own
I need her
I need help
I need wings

Fairy Tale

Somewhere inside her and I there are children
They rise to the surface when our eyes meet
She only wants to play when I’m around
Wide eyed curiosity fills her welcome soul
It takes only a word and she grips my hand
She can’t push herself on the swing
She can’t play paddy cake with the wall
She needs me to pull the wagon
To take her to the field of daisies
Only I know the way
We dance in the strawberry fields
Lay in the cool grass as the sky rushes overhead
My soul is her rest, my mind her solace
When she looks inside me she smiles
The book of my heart is open to her favorite fairy tale
She dare not stay too long
For the sun will always set and the snow will always fall
All too soon it’s cold and black
All too soon the clouds will bring the rain of her tears

5 minutes

The longest day of my life is a total of five minutes
Every meaningless story
All the meaningless chatter
Every tear
Every “I’m sorry”
Every “I love you”
Every second looking in your eyes
Every shudder
Every breath
Every unreturned feeling of longing
All for what
A total of five minutes
Me telling you “I love you”
You telling me “I can’t”
Me asking “why”
You answering “I don’t know”
Me telling you “it’s ok”
You believing it’s true
Both of us knowing it’s not
You knowing it definitely is NOT
It’s all right, ‘cause it’s all wrong