Love Locks

Love Locks

Bunches of berries, brass and steel
Rattle in the wind through the canal fence
Rusted grapes of young love’s promises
In clusters on the wrought iron vines

Love locks wear names
Padlocked permanent initials
K and C
Kieran and Courtney
And three more tiny locks
Not named, but prayed for
And the keys all thrown away

It's a fusion made stronger by storm and rain
Not broken when he hit her
Not unlocked when she threw him out
Not lubricated with WD40, when he came home pissed and crying,
Again

Brass and steel berries don’t fall from the vine
No juice, no seeds, no wine
Locked in endless ripe potential
Oxidized mementoes of a moment in time
Declarations of love
Frozen forever

November 2022

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