The Man With the Key

It's an oddly wonderful thing,
standing outside, glancing
at the moon, feeling an odd kinship.
Unlike the planets which orbit
the sun, the Moon sits so still,
left to follow no one.

It shines a light which it borrows
from the stars and Sun, if only
it could be understood by everyone,
perhaps they could understand you.
Come to appreciate all your phases,
and why you remain as the world passes you by.

Now you stand, half alight, half in shade,
warm at your core, but shivering at the
surface. The wind which causes the trees
to whisper about you, reveals how open
you are to the world. But to seek cover
means to hide yourself from the Moon.

The wind's picking up, the trees are
laughing at you now. You feel their
skin, coarse and cracked, it is not
your own. Once so at peace with this
place you look around and see yourself
surrounded by alien beings. Alone.

You run along the path, looking for
your partner. You feel the rocks, but
they are worn like old sandpaper, they
too are not your kind. You gather up the
ground beneath you, and it sticks to you
and darkens your skin, the rest slipping
through the cracks, not to be held again.

You've run so long now that you seem to
sense, you never knew there were so
many trees, and so little people.
You feel your own skin in desperation,
to fool your brain that you have found
someone. But the touch is without spark.

You reach a gate and realize you are caged,
a habitat of your own choosing, a shell
of a land you once found comforting, but
how could you live so long without the
love of another? You rattle the bars and
cry out as the wind seems more fierce than ever.

You didn't realize it til now, but darkness
stretches far as you can see, and only
squirrels and rats make noise beneath
your feet. You'll fall to your knees as
you begin to feel a reality that never
seemed this real before. You pray.

It isn't a prayer to move mountains,
just one to set you free. Before you've
even noticed you open your eyes to see,
someone stands outside the gate, better
yet they hold the key. They motion for
you to stand as they reach in to take your hand.

You hug them close like family, natural
instincts take hold. The person who has
found you gives you shelter from the cold.
"Where have you been?" The person wonders,
"I've been listening all night, I had begun
to worry for you. I'm glad that you're all right."

"I couldn't see anything but trees, and rocks,
all rooted deeply enough, but not for me. I
couldn't hear much but their laughing leaves,
the chattering grass, and scurrying feet. I
couldn't find anyone in this world but me,
and when I found this gate I called out hopelessly."

"You tried but could not find friends among the
trees. They are old and see you as no more
permanent than the birds which make their nest
at night and fly away at first daylight. Their
shelter does not warm or keep the light, you
were correct in feeling something was not right."

"You tried to find protection with the rock, but
it is cold and hard. It resists your touch with
a hiss as you drag it along requesting comfort.
It seemed silent and reliable at first, but it
could not block the wind which cut you in short
bursts. It would rather sit there by itself.

"I did not see this fence and gate before. I'm
quite certain it wasn't there when I came in.
But when I realized my own loneliness I tried
to come back again, and here it did appear.
I thought no one was in the shadows, but I see
you are here. How was it I did not hear you coming?"

"You hadn't learned to hear. In this world you
created, you'd dulled your senses, it would appear
as everything should seem to you to be. But in
your loneliness came fear, in your earnestness you
saw. Things that were not there before, discrepencies
and flaws. It wasn't till you prayed that you were
listening at all.

"Please do not leave me now, that I have finally
found some one. Wandering this world alone is
not really that much fun. I know I only prayed
that you would open up the gate, but now that
I have your warmth with me, my wish is too great
to simply let you walk away, though I had not long to wait."

"I may at times disappear but there is nothing
you should fear, it only means your senses have
lulled you into sleep again. I'll be with you
inside your heart, as dear to you as kin, so
that if you feel so torn apart, I can appear again.
Just pray for me and I will appear again."