I cleared my desk on a Friday evening
Put ten good years in a cardboard box
One old notebook, two coffee cups
and a key I didn't need anymore
Everybody said
Keep in touch
Take care
Good luck
Then the elevator closed
and that was that
Monday came
I woke at seven
Reached for the shirt
I always wore
Then I remembered
I had nowhere
I had to be
by eight anymore
Funny how a Monday
can feel so different
Same alarm
same morning light
Yesterday I knew
where I was going
Today I had to choose
where to go
So I walked down
to the little café
Ordered something
I'd never tried
Sat by the window
without checking the time
and watched everybody
rush outside
One thing ends
the day still comes
Coffee gets poured
buses still run
One door closes
you carry your box
Then Tuesday comes
whether you're ready or not
A month went by
I found some work
Smaller office
longer ride
Didn't know the names
didn't know the shortcuts
Got off the train
on the wrong side
First week awkward
second week better
Third week someone
saved me a seat
By the fourth week
I had a coffee
waiting for me
before the meeting
That's how it happens
not with a sign
not with the whole world
changing overnight
Just a different key
in a different door
A different road
than the one before
Years later
I found that cardboard box
Still in the closet
under some clothes
The old key was there
at the very bottom
I held it a second
then let it go
Not because
those years meant nothing
They did
They got me here
But some keys
open yesterday
and some doors
need your hands
free
One thing ends
the day still comes
Morning doesn't ask
what you've lost or won
You make some coffee
you put on your shoes
And sooner or later
there's somewhere new
to go
