The Doors of a Drowned City

Poetry

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By: Preston Grassmann

Issue: 15 June 2020

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There are never enough keys
For all the hidden rooms
In a city she once called home

And yet the brass and gold
Come to life in her hands
She had once forgotten

The memories of the lost
Rise from mind’s uncharted sea
A city of rooms and chambers

And the last she turns now
Remembering and seeing
A place that will never drown

   for all the doorways of memory
       drowned beneath the sea
     buried and broken so long ago

      skeletons are exhumed
       opening doors into moments
        reawakened by touch

         turning in their burnished locks
          giving them a purpose once again
           returning to the world

            the key her father once made
             a room filled with life and light
              that will always be her own to hold

Editor's Note: There's a secret doorway in this poem that won't appear at first for everyone. You might need to stretch out your browser window, or rotate your phone, or zoom in or out. You'll know if you find it.

About Preston Grassmann

A native of California, Preston Grassmann was educated at UC Berkeley, where he studied under Poet Laureate Robert Hass. He is a regular contributor to Nature, with work appearing in Tor’s Futures 2, Apex Magazine, and Mythic Delirium. The Unquiet Dreamer was released by PS Publishing in August of 2019.

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