I was never told (landays)

I was never told there was a key

I spent those years hurling myself at the locks instead

Somewhere in the basement is a list

Of all the bruises, turning their fairytale colors

What is the thin space between the files?

Why does the handwriting sing in your mother's voices?

What can I tell you first, young Marie?

I watch you through the backwards glass and you won't listen

Whatever I write now you erase

I waltz as slow as I can. You shoot at my ankles

Name the children, quick, before they fade

Fold them into peace cranes, jump them through the love canals

Scoop the tomorrows fast as they come

Count the dreams, swim the lost caves, know they will never stop

Throw the minutes high into the air

So that there will be time for the race before they fall

I will count the names we've forgotten

You and I, so earnestly holding onto the hands

I will swallow the key at midnight

So that the fairytale colors finally make sense