The Key of Promise in Doubting Castle*

A poem by Renee Emerson

Golden in my pocket all along. 
I forgot it. Shook the bars, pressed 
my fist to their cold persistence. 

No light and a key with no weight
like the weight of my chains. Beaten
day after day, dragged out at last
to be shown the bones of pilgrims.

I am one of them, so I prayed. 
How quickly the door flew 
open, a birdwing in flight. 

On the path again, I carved
a warning in stone, that others 
may read it and pass on.

---

Renee Emerson is the author of Church Ladies (Fernwood Press, 2023). She lives in the Midwest with her husband and children.

*Originally published in Inkwell: Poetry for the Easter Season