Locked Out

Locked Out

 

Do you remember

She enquired

When we first

Became orphans

 

Indeed I do

He replied

It was the day

The key broke in the lock

 

I remember

The precise moment

We realised that nowt

Would ever be the same again

 

Reviews

[Chris Shaw]

When my Dad died I can remember thinking nothing will ever be the same again. When my mum dies, I will be an orphan and I know what to expect. It won't be easy. I dread it.

Your lines made me think of conversations with siblings Neville.

There are other meanings, but this is the one that stood out for me.

Chris

[Neville]

thank you for considering these words and for sharing what you shared Chris

Neville

[SinSeer]

I like the key and lock reference. The key to a happy childhood is stability and the lock is their home. As the key broke in the lock, the orphans had no stable home.

[Gee]

06:20, April the 9th, 2019. News broken by a younger sibling with red rimmed eyes and quivering bottom lip.
Brought back that knock on the door like it was yesterday :(
Good morning Neville, hope you are well.

[Neville]

sorry mate.. that was not my intention... its bloody awful though isn't it.. Hope you n the girls a good in MK … could be better but not to grumble.. N

[Lorry]

This reminds me of the lightness of a key chain when you realise each day that you no longer have need to carry a set to let yourself into, or for emergencies to yourparents/family home, making your keyring look bare and a constant reminder of what is no longer there, but missed.
Beautifully penned Neville.

[Neville]

You just hit the nail on its head mate... and thanks for checking everything was safe n secure...

[Fay Slimm]

To become locked out of a loved one's life is like being orphaned and time is ruthless when after a broken love affair our world is changed ever after- - a wistfully sad reminder about facing the consequences.....reading your words digs deep into never-healed scars my friend.

[Neville]

How write you are dear fay.... thanking you and true... Neville

[Eilis]

Hi, Neville. Hope you are well. Glad to see you sharing your lovely poetry again.

Something I always enjoy about your poems is the way you mix in bits of otherworldly or whimsical imagery that makes me connect to some more spiritual or subconscious meaning.

In this poem, the key imagery immediately makes me think of The Secret Garden and the two adults talking in the poem become children themselves in my head. It reminds me how we never outgrow some things (like the need for parental or steady love) and that no matter how old we are we never stop being greatly affected by loss.

It’s a kind of wistful poem that reaches into those spaces where we all have faced the hardship of loss. Moving work.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i don't think that it is only children who are orphans...i think when lovers become estranged there is that similar feeling...
left to hope they are adopted by another significant other...
j.

[Neville]

Absolutely Jacob.. I would agree entirely... I became an orphan on 23 August last year, and I don't min admitting I am struggling even at my age...

Neville.