Keys

By Clarence Edwin Flynn

It is a shame upon us
That there should be a day
When we must seek protection
By locking things away.

If but the race were honest,
One could leave any store
By day or night, with never
A lock upon the door.

He could lie down to slumber
Unhindered till the dawn,
Knowing no hand would harm him,
Or anything be gone.

Perhaps we shall be neighbors
Again in years to be,
So honest that no coffer
Or house will need a key.

(1946)