Dlej — A Different Key

Oh
I cleared my desk on a
Friday evening
Put 10 good years in a cardboard box.
One old notebook, two coffee cups
And a key
I didn't
Need anymore.
Everybody said, "Keep in touch
Take care
Good luck
Then the elevator closed
And that was that
Monday came.
I woke at 7:00, reached for the shirt
I always wore.
Then I remembered
I had nowhere
I had to be by
8:00 anymore
Funny how a
Monday can feel so different.
Same alarm, same morning light.
Yesterday I knew where I
Was going.
Today
I had to choose where
To go.
So
I walked down to the little
Cafe, ordered something
I'd
Never tried, sat by the window without
Checking the time, and watched
Everybody rush outside
One thing is the day still comes.
Coffee gets poured.
Buses still run.
One door closes, you carry
Your box.
Then
Tuesday comes whether
You're ready or not
Oh
A month
A month went by
I found some work.
Smaller office
Longer hours.
Didn't know the names
Didn't know the shortcuts, got
Off the train on the wrong side.
First awkward.
Second week, better.
Third
Week, someone save me a seat.
By
The fourth week, I had a coffee waiting
For me
Before the meeting.
That's how it happens.
Not with a sign, not with the whole world changing overnight
Just a different key in a different
Door, a different road than the one before
Years later, I found that
Cardboard box still in the closet under
Some clothes.
The old key was
There at the very bottom.
I held it a
Second, then let it go.
Not because
Those years meant nothing.
They did.
They got me here.
But some keys
Open yesterday and some doors
Need your hands free
One thing is, the day still comes.
Morning doesn't ask what you've lost.
One you make some coffee, you put
On your shoes and and singing
Sooner or later
There's somewhere new to go
Oh
To go