BUTTON DOWN POCKET OF HAND-ME-DOWN FLARES

when i was a small me
i read some books about a kid

with a special key & a magic cat

i might be recalling it wrong
i might not be telling it right

but i remember 

being compelled 

to attempt the same 

i acquired an orphan key 

to a long gone mortice lock

& i carried it inside 

a button-down pocket

of my hand-me-down flares

always worried i would lose it 

&

the only cat i knew

was a sack of alley scratch hisses

& 

the magic

is here now

in the rosy gem

of hinterland hindsight

photo - Edward B&W Fade from the Dagenham Archive