The Keys of the Kingdom

The kingdom had so many keys,
keys to its doors,
keys to its gold,
keys to its time,
keys to its secrets.
Nothing moved without a key.
Everything was controlled.
Nothing was free.
Then came the Great War of the Keys
and the kingdom collapsed.
Its doors stayed open,
its secrets exposed.
Its gold melted away.
Its locks grew rusty.
Time stood still.
All it had valued 
rotted away,
decayed,
collapsed 
into a heap
of useless keys.


First published in With Painted Words, February 2016

http://www.withpaintedwords.com/view_submission.php?news_id=986

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