Brass key turns in cold palm
Heavy weight becomes a psalm
No door frame waits in shadowed aisle
Dust smells like rain on sandstone tile
Palm remembers metal calm
Dewey decimals fold like hymnal page
Brass grows warm from turning rage
Bowed bass hums from shelf to shelf
Glockenspiel rings by its lonesome self
Page turns slow at this late stage
Oh brass key without a door Search shelves forevermore
Waltz time spins on basement floor
Hope kicks hard against the bore
Door won't come but still explore
Microfilm reader clicks like prayer beads
Brass key tastes of old guitar strings
Alto voice reads classifieds
Breath marks fade where silence sings
Beads slip through finger's needs
Oh brass key without a door
Search shelves forevermore
Waltz time spins on basement floor
Hope kicks hard against the bore
Door won't come but still explore
Third finger finds the D string harmonic
Choir director's shade grows panic
No resolution in this archive
Just search becoming something alive
Five flats written, four voices thrive
Key turns air and stays alive
Accession numbers stain fingertips
Brass leaves green on memory's lips
Double bass walks where catalog slips
Time signature cuts through eclipse
Lips hum fragments, half-remembered scripts
Morning light hits microfiche glass
Brass key shines on reading pass
No door found but shadows mass
Waltz ends on a major bass
Glass reflects the searching mass
Oh brass key without a door Search shelves forevermore
Waltz time spins on basement floor
Hope kicks hard against the bore
Door won't come but still explore
Brass key rests on catalog wood
Still turning, turning for good