Unlock the curlicues
deep in the brain
where stories hide,

where lines of poetry
lurk, waiting for
the just-right key—

a voice, a touch,
the trill of bird or
the warmth

of a sunny summer
day—to release words
that gush through

the gates of synapses,
rush down the river
of arm to flow into

the eddies of hand
where pen-grasping
fingers release syllables

onto mute paper,
which sparks what
the imagination has

been storing, what
this skeleton of a key
has at last unlocked.

•••

(For the six newly trained Amherst Writers & Artists affiliates of 916 Ink in Sacramento, California. With thanks to Reyna Atilano for the key prompt and the good write!)