The Keys of Our Lives

The Keys of Our Lives

Go to your keyring right now.
Pick it up and look at it.
Those are the keys that contain your current life.

But,
What would the key ring of your life look like?
The one with all the diaries you received as a child?
Especially the diaries stolen by your cousin,
And you later tore it up in front of everyone
After you got it back and swore no more diaries in their house?

All the home keys,
Starting with the one your mom gave you
And you lost and she pulled your hair so hard
You thought it was going to come out?

The one from the apartment
You shared with your ex-husband
When he made mozzarella sticks.
You formed your second child
And he pushed pregnant you into the chair.
You made his Ultima game end without saving
That he’d played for four hours straight;
Instead of getting the oldest diapers
When she shit in the last one.

Some keys have no memories; some keys are unknown.
Maybe something will unlock their meaning in your life.
Wasn’t that, wait, no, that was this key.
The key to your first car that you bought with your own money?
The one you rode around for hours
With your sister, your friend, your boyfriend,
And made love in the front seat
In one of the most awkward positions?
Well, maybe it was to the lock of the bike
Your rode when you longed for the young man
You wanted him to run his long fingers through your hair
And tell you how good you were and how much you meant to him?

No.

Some keys will never be remembered.
But the others, treasure their memories.
And hang onto the key ring as long as you can.
Because when the memories leave the keys
Life Ends.