The Keys

She gave him the keys to her heaven
He opened a door to a beauteous place
A secret garden and he played his games
In a place he had never been before

Sans belief, lacking faith
He feared an illusion would trap him
Through the only map he had
He charted a destructive course

He bid her speak her truth
Words to prove him right
Stormed when her words showed
Him an unknown place

His winds shook the trees
His rain pelted the flowers
Lightening raced hail
But she stood in a different peace

Tears flowed, mixed with the rain
A river flowed between them
Hell the aftermath of heaven
yet a seed she planted with bloody hands

It grew and fruited
His mouth watered for it
He feared it false miracle
He called the storm to protect him

Over and over, storm and plant
Seed and fruit
The river growing wider, wilder
Neither left the shore

She gave him the keys to her heaven
Because she had faith, she believed
She had fear at the risk
She was not afraid to live

His storms passed through her
She found the strength to be vulnerable
She once stood as he did
She knew for what she held fast

He was a hollow man
On a shore of a wild river
Where she waited in a miracle
Of her secret garden

With his own keys
He unlocked the cage fear made
Swam the river and emerged reborn

Those familiar with Tam Lin will be familiar with the theme of a woman holding fast to her love despite his transformation into various beasts. An echo of this can be found in “Beauty and the Beast”, where the woman sees beyond the beast and sees a man to love.
In this, although it is the steadfastness of the woman, it is the man, by his own choice, that banishes his beast, his fears and angers, once he is emptied of them.
The keys of love do not trap, but free the self to love.