Lonnie Hicks (www.lonniehicks.com / Chicago Ill)

You have my heart in a silver box

wrapped in a sly smile

and you creep in my corner eye

stealthily.

You make no effort to acknowledge this

or even to open it

to take a peek

at what was given you long ago

by mistake.

The key is hidden in some secret place

and I search for it

even while unsure if my goal is to soothe

or retrieve;

yet I cannot be content; keyless.

I approach you at times

search your eyes

silently asking

where is my

missing soul?

You smile

that beautiful smile

flip your hair the way you do

engorged as you are with

numerous hearts in that silver box.

In the bad time nights

I wonder if you'd be soulless

without that silver box

like a collector with no quivering specimens.

I think probably;

and that helps me sleep

vowing relentlessly to seek

that hidden key

you have nonchalantly

swallowed

preventing me

from moving on

or to stay and get what I need.