Key

Your heart is kept in a cage, and I don't possess the key.

I want to Jam the key I do have in there and force it to open.

But that won't work and if it breaks off in there, well what will I do then.

'Cause see if every heart has a cage and every cage has only one key, then I don't want my one key broken in the wrong lock. And if I have a cage on my heart and only one person has the key and our keys are meant to open each others' cages, then I'm gonna need my key to open the right lock for me, and if it gets stuck in the wrong place because I forced it in there and said person opens my lock but I can't open his, well...

You could just remove it if I break it inside your lock, you could even give it back to me, but do keys mend back together again, or aren't they off a little. What if then, even if it's put back together again, it doesn't turn, or just breaks off in the right persons lock, and I can't open it.

No, I'll just hold onto my key, even though you have the prettiest heart beneath the most magnificent cage that I have seen in so so long. I'll put my key on a necklace and place a compass in the center, that way when it points to the right lock I'll recognize it. I envision my key sliding in and turning with ease and if I close my eyes and see my own cage even though I can't quite see the face of my keyholder I can imagine what it feels like for the cage to open and disappear, float off into the atmosphere greens, purple, oranges, and gold. Then I'll be with an exposed heart.... I wonder what that feels like.

Key part 2

What if my key fits the lock to the cage around your heart, only, there's a broken key already in there, and you haven't removed it? Or, what if your key is broken inside someone's lock, for if every heart has a cage, and every cage just one key, considering all the people we meet, it's quite possible. It happened to me once when I was very young, a boy wanted to keep me forever, he put his key into my lock and broke it off. Although I loved him, my cage didn't open. As I grew in age and maturity so did my heart inside that cage. It grew to push on the bars, I was in pain all the time, even breathing was difficult. My body grew in size to match the swollen heart. Then one day, just a random unimportant day, I took a deep breathe and as I pushed the air out, the broken key left with it. With the lock free, the cage grew to match the years of stunted growth. The cage expands as far as my ribs now and my heart is free to move in there. The experience however left words upon the bars like an incantation, a spell and a warning. For although my heart can move inside the cage, it is still in a cage, and only the right key can open the lock, for true freedom is in sharing openly with another. The warning is that the wrong key will make the cage shrink again. And so the words go like this, "When a key is put inside your lock don't check your heart for it is fully grown, but take a breath and check your cage, did the door open, or are you once again enslaved?"

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