Three Keys Waiting for a Fairytale

A key made of iron
a key made of agate
a key made from hummingbird bones
a triple-locked casket of cold alabaster
in a sandalwood cabinet in a palace of embers and smoke
surrounded by gardens of vegetable stoplights of green turn to yellow turn red

Waiting for hands gloved in velvet
waiting for hands gloved in steel
waiting for hands that can carry a pen or a lute
in search of a captive or wealth beyond dreaming
in search of a story with scenes of escape and adventure
a fish with a ring in its mouth and a cat with a bell on its handwoven collar

And if they don't make stories like they used to then we have to write our own
and we'll start with clues inscribed inside a walnut shell
and a key embedded in a ripe tomato
and a road map in a sidewalk crack
a key made of music
a key made of moonlight
a key spun from spider-silk and silverfish scales.

--image courtesy of Magpie Tales
Collection available! Knocking from Inside