Keys

Keys are nice,

in a way. New keys,

especially, are nice.

They're nice because 

they mean you have 

the right to go into 

somewhere, or to open

something, that other 

people can't.

They mean freedom
and safety, all at once.
And that's nice.

And it's nice the way,
when you're walking home at night,
you can grip them in your hand,
real tight.

And oh, it's not nice,

the way they make

your hands smell all

metallic, or the way

they taste a bit like 

blood when you hold 

them in your mouth,

or the way they don't

fit in the way you want

them to or the way

they hide themselves.
Lose themselves, even.

Like any other thing.

But it's nice the way 

that if you throw them

up, they sing.