Scribbler

By scribbler

Too many keys

I constantly misplaced my keys until I put up this hook. 
But that doesn't solve my latest problem.

Car, condo, stairwell, storage room, mailbox, file drawers, garage door, building door ....Too many keys! Perhaps that's why the built-in ring on my car's electronic key wore all the way through, leaving a gap. 

The other day I pulled my keys out of my pocket and they seemed suspiciously lighter. I had no sooner realized that my electronic car key was missing than I found it — whew! — and saw that it could no longer reliably hang from a keyring without slipping off. I taped it with metal tape, but I don't trust this as a permanent fix.

I phoned the dealer to ask about a replacement key. They'd be happy to provide one for only $145. Yikes.

My car is a 2000 Honda. I've been thinking about replacing it for years, but it has all the features I want, drives well, and has only 90,000 miles on the odometer. I've looked at newer cars and don't like all their screens and gadgets. 

Just a month or two ago, after another look at the latest Hondas and Toyotas, I made a decision: Wait until something breaks, and then replace the vehicle. When I was told it would cost me $145 for a new key, I said, "I was planning to get another car when something in this one breaks. But I didn't expect the something to be a key!"

I may be getting off easy. 
This key may be the canary in the coal mine. 
"For want of a nail, the kingdom was lost." 
What is the key that unlocks this puzzle?
------------------

Electronic key
can't be carried on a ring 
and I fail to see
what solution this will bring.

I'm fond of my car 
like it from bonnet to boot
but it won't go far
if its key's lost or kaput.

Do I understand
latest cars don't need a key?
Recognize you by 
aspects of your touch or eye? 

That would be quite grand —
an automotive success —
better than I planned —
just to carry one key less.

-----------------
Note to grammarians and other linguistic sticklers:
I know it's "one key fewer" — so don't skewer me.
I claim poetic liberty.
Duty to grammar I rarely shirk
but it's close enough for government work.


What is this mutt of a poem? Offspring of a haiku and a quatrain. The lines are 5-7-5-7, and the rhyme scheme is abab ... except where it's not. What can I say? April is the cruelest month.

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