Like Cinderella’s missing shoe,
there is one key to fit this lock.
I ponder unbound possibilities,
Fantasies of freedom behind grim gunmetal bars.
My back to pallid plaster walls I anxiously await.
That key would mean a turning point,
of soaring vindication.
I’ll spread my wings and fly away, freedom voraciously devoured.
insatiable, unquenchable, I tremble at the thought.
With perfect blade and biting teeth,
inserted smoothly, the snuggest fit.
Silence shattered by squealing steel.
It’s amorous realisation of emancipation long desired.
A prison cell is tangible but captivity is not
but a key is only palpable for certain types of lock
and amnesty unchained is only found within.
The quest of absolution truly starts and ends with you.
Robert McLaughlan
Brisbane, Qld
The author says: “My poem is based on the human pursuit of freedom. Many people feel trapped and are ‘looking for a way out’, literally or metaphorically. Regardless of our circumstances, the key isn’t necessarily tangible but actually lies within ourselves.”
