The Blue Door by André Brink

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet

Lock and Key

I send you love --
Both lock and key,
With an invitation
To stay, or either leave,
The cage that's made,
Which keeps pretty wings
Folded, a handwritten note,
You hesitate to send me.


Copper not gold; godless bars
Contained me
As I get old; fearful robes
Wrapped me
Don't ask me how, but answer—me
Why rubber wings intend to bend?
Sweet little curves, shape them
However you might wish
Give them away, offer them for sale
Or fix them.


You don’t listen, yes I do.
You don’t listen, yes I do.


Who hears your song
Most silently,
Sure, those happier notes,
What of your desperate pleas?
And all the while
You cared for me,
Where I cared, more or less,
To think them little things.


Both, lock and key
You were and are to me
Cure and assure on
My flashy wounds, silently.
Those crumpled wings
Hold many weights
Heavy hearts pound
When no one is around
Lost without words,
They abandoned me.


You don’t listen, yes I do.
You don’t listen, yes I do.
No you don’t…


Who hears your song
Most silently;
A tug of war, drums fierce,
Strums fiercer the heart strings,
No lullaby
To put me to sleep,
Things left unsaid come out!
Are out eventually.


He whom I sing to,
From time to time,
Intends to hurt me.
So I kept my little songs
Safe to myself, secretly.
Where I know of
To cover my insecurities.


You don’t listen, yes I do.
You don’t listen, yes I do.
No you don’t, I do.


by Rihab & Von Figueiredo