Simone Young Poet Lyric

Notes About The Poem

 

Poem written for the beautiful impossible contest sponsored by Sotto Poet

 

The Key to Nowhere

I am crushed by the shape of what is missing.
I remember being here before in the quiet—
carrying the weight of rust and neglect—
encased in the void of a vanished world,
bleak as unturned steel.

The house I served is lost to the grounds,
demolished, bitter, left to its own decay,
reduced to a whisper of distant awe.
The beams that once carried warmth within
can no longer support their mangled frame.

Yet this brass still drags my resolve to belong,
heavy as a foundation of bricks and stones,
insisting that survival is something to endure.
We believe life’s splendor must be clear of stain,
but absence is a shadow you cannot ignore.

You are gone—you have been gone for years—
still your presence lingers, a voice in the woods;
louder than the machines that tore you apart.

Through the lingering stench of diesel and turned earth,
Memory is an artisan, bringing forth from shadow to light,
crafting its art from discarded planks.

I turn the key one more time in the dark—
And the phantom door opens.

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Nathaniel Balch August 14, 2026 at 12:16 PM The imagery invoked of a home that has been taken is compelling. A key to a door that is no longer there. From the literal sense of hollow machines demolishing a physical structure to the idea of sentiment and nostalgia being the key to the door of your good memories. Simone Young August 15, 2026 at 4:10 PM Nathaniel, thank you for such a deep reading of the poem! It's fascinating to hear your perspective. While I wrote this focusing heavily on the grief and bitter pain of loss, I love that you saw the key as a way to access good memories. That contrast between the 'hollow machines' and internal sentiment is exactly the tension I wanted to create.