Wooden door, wooden door
I shall enter you evermore
With weary feet or woeful mind
Your locks never hard to find
Opened by many keys, over many years
Mine of gleaming crimson red

Beyond the threshold
Into the depths of my despair
Washing over like an intoxicating wave
Slowly yet ever so surely
Knowing this is their sacred lair
Since I was but a young child
Seven years in this dismal house
Break a mirror, and of course
Hope the misfortune would be gone
Faded after seven years

But is it so,
That the misfortune had anywhere
Anywhere else to go than here?
As I pace these bleak halls
Of blank white and dust
Floor creaking upon uncertain steps
Sounds surely to fall upon
Overly critical ears
Wooden door, wooden door,
I shall pass through you evermore
Many times you’ve been slammed
Other times sheltering the world
From wars of words, of hatred
Fear and violence echo here,
Echo in the still of night
In the near silence of their slumber
But I do not sleep, I cannot dare
I lay awake, night after night
Dreamer am I, shall I always be
Grant me freedom, wooden door
Grant it to me in due time,
Oh wooden door,
Grant it to me evermore.

- Jay Martinez
September 12th, 2022