Found it in a box under the stairs

Found it in a box under the stairs,

a key so thick with rust I couldn't recognize,

the metal soft and crumbling, and I realized

that this key was lost, and I didn't care.

The rust comes off on my fingers like dust,

and I think about all the keys I've lost,

all the locks I've forgotten about, all the cost

of holding onto things, and nothing I trust.

I should throw it away,

but I keep it anyway, this key to nothing,

this proof that time does its thing,

that nothing I hold onto will stay.