Inspired By My Beloved Poet- Robert Frost.
Stone walls become protectors of the land;
each stone is placed to balance and hold tight
through time, surviving long past usefulness-
beyond each owner's need for boundaries.
I reckoned this while walking in the woods,
not far from home, one early autumn day,
along a hidden path, surrounded by
dense foliage, wild grasses, and tall trees.
There, I discovered a long wall of stone,
meandering- without a purpose shown.
What farms or log cabins existed here,
that this stone wall was built to cordon off,
to act as guardian- hold separate
lands bounded by this jagged line of stones?
I wondered how its structure had survived
that offers now- intentions for its worth.
I sadly pondered this, remembering
a famous poem penned by Robert Frost-
Mending Wall- "good fences make good neighbors,"
and wondered if, indeed- they truly were.
October 3, 2020
~6th Place~
Contest: A Wall In The Woods
Sponsor: Craig Cornish
Judged: 10/16/2020
It is sheer hyperbole
To call him so,
A creature much different
From Van Winkle’s Wolf,
Who would snarl at his own master.
Or the proverbial Marcus,
Almost always sleepy.
Maybe a year old,
He is,
The softest canine
I have ever come upon,
Of a creamy color,
Cherry-red nose,
And lips of the same shade—
Pleasing features, in short,
A cleanly creature
With a red collar that suggests
That he is my neighbor’s possession.
Anyway, always eager to please,
Even as I am easy to please:
His moan, his wag,
His rock, and shake,
Even on the very first day
We met—
Love at first sight,
as it were.
But…the iron gate—
Always between him and me,
Strong, well-painted, accursed gate.
With of course gaps between the bars
For me to insert my fingers,
For him to sniff at them,
Grab them with his pearly teeth
Touch them with his tender paws.
But the iron gate—
That ironically reminds me
Of Frost's line:
Good fences make good neighbors!
--R. V., Ram
Secure our borders!
Good fences make good neighbors.
Make it clean and strong
Our earth is colored in patches
Of the countries, its entities
Document every plant, animal, and person
Measure all the air, water, and breathing
Make everything invisible, visual
Experience life, cleanly divisible
Since we can't respect differences
We must make great walls
To decorate with peace doves
And free-for-alls;
Since we can't understand each other’s needs
We must enforce our language
In the name of collaboration
And reason;
Since we can't stop fighting each other
We must create better weapons
To stop the others from
Making more;
Since we can't cure our diseases
We must name name each one
And come up with new experiments
Procedures and drugs;
Since we can't educate our people
Who have these answers already
Let's vote against spending money
To teach them;
Secure our borders!
Good fences make good neighbors