ELEVATOR MAN
by Jodie Senkyrik, ©, 2002

I’ve been made of cheese, it seems
Confused about the ways I go,
So many holes inside everything in me
I trudge ahead, with nothing I know.

Now, I’m on the ground floor,
wondering if I can grab the elevator man
before he pushes a button
and seemingly disappears from the world I’m in.

And the elevator man hums
as he goes from one to two
He calls saying, “I am here.” again
and telling me more than I knew.

And if I miss him, once again
I’ll laugh because
I wouldn’t know what to do
if I caught him.

Unless he’s knowing the secret
and hoping I can figure it in my mind.
Like a leprechaun and his Gold,
he tries to tell me what I’ll find.

Now, I’m on the ground floor,
the never leaving elevator man returns instead,
and the doors open and close
in sync with all the holes in my head.

Rising, I hear the distant song
of a land I carried from the start.
I hold it in my shirt pocket
close, next to the hole in my heart.

And the elevator man is singing
as he connects me to the heavens
lifting and laughing and teaching me
about the holes in my story.