LXXXIX - Beyond the Pale

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Laura Jayne at Pictures, Poetry & Prose poses a daily writing challenge.
The prompt for this poem was “Fences”.

Beyond the Pale

Our fences serve us with a dual role:
Enclose our private space as a shrine.
In doing this, they so set out the whole:
The other world is all beyond the line.

But all fences are not post and rail
There are mental ones, oft ill-defined,
That section us onto a scale:
Of picketted allotments of the mind.

Those yappy little dogs who chase you,
Barking through the slats as you walk by,
Seldom have the nerve to face you
Should they chance to find the gate awry.

There’s a bit of dog in all of us
That yaps at those who roam
But if given the open gate of progress
We choose the safety of our home

But life lies not behind your moat
It’s found most when we intertwine.
So take your hat and take your coat
And step bravely across the line.

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© J Cosmo Newbery
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