Even Trade

I asked you for a small sliver of what you kept hidden

Instead, you gave me what you could spare

As I stood, staring

I realized I had nowhere to keep it safe

I looked at the space you now had empty, measuring carefully

So I opened my secret place, and found

To my surprise, I would need to entrust to you, 

Near all of my hidden things

To make room, for you.

Carefully I placed mine in your care

And you locked it away tightly

I slid yours into place and found

It fit nicely

But when the day came, and you wanted to switch back

We opened up our hidden places

And for the life of me I couldn’t tell what was mine

And what had belonged to you

after all the jumbling and melding 

We decided it looked the same

So with resignation, we agreed to split them again.

An even trade

But as I walked away, I couldn’t help but feel 

You had kept, on purpose,

part of me with you.