Keys without a lock

Abstract

This collection represents the poems I have had published or accepted for publication to date. The title, "Keys Without a Lock," is a line taken from the poem "Mabel's Bed." The poem is about preparing my grandmother's house for auction, and the things I found in closets and cupboards, so the title has a literal meaning. It also has a figurative meaning, in that we sometimes find the tool we need long after we can use it, whether it is understanding, perspective, forgiveness, or some other awareness we gain in the course of a life. The poems are largely narrative; although most of the poems begin with a real memory, they are not literally true, but are true to a feeling, idea, or experience. They are divided into four roughly chronological sections. "Riding Clipper Ships" is mostly about, or remembering, childhood; "Bumping on Cobblestone" is mostly about moving to Ohio, "Eating the Round Bones" is mostly about what happened after that, and "Sipping Moonshine" is mostly about imagining or wishing for something that hasn't happened. Each section has an epigraph related to some of the poems, and the section titles are taken from a poem within that section. The poems are in free verse, with the exception of "Driving to the James Wright Poetry Festival and Coming Home" (sonnet), "Mabel's Bed" (rhyming couplets), "To a Love" (sonnet), and "White Christmas" (pantoum).