A boy stands
in the middle of the path
and asks whoever comes by
for a password.
I try sandwich,
matchstick, concubine,
ranch, nightcrawler,
ranunculus, spider.
No, no, no, he says
to all my guesses,
but eventually we
get distracted
and speak of the lake
and breakfast.
We went on
to play, somehow
forgetting
that there was
ever a barrier
to uphold.
So arbitrary,
sometimes,
the lines we draw.
Ah, to let all
those boundaries
melt invisibly
into the floor
while we walk freely
around the house,
all the rooms unlocked.