Fences
We used to sleep on the porch
in our sleeping bags on warm nights
square spindles cutting crisp shadows out of the moonlight
the cats would slip between the rungs and leap
fifteen fearless feet to the ground
a jaw-dropping distance, nothing to them.
My family tells me
when I was a toddler
I pushed my head between the bars of my crib
got stuck
and bawled, red-faced, until my mother
buttered my ears and pulled me free.
Climbing the horse gate, hopping over chain-link to retrieve a ball, squeezing between barbed wire, edging carefully under an electrified one
all my memories of fences
are of boundaries broken
rules defied
for better or for worse
Fresh Hell 
It’s always a good idea to pre butter ones head prior to inserting between spindles
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Haha! The follies of youth
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I love the square spindles cutting crisp shadows. Lovely imagery.
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Now if we could only cinnamon-sugar them, roll them up and bake them and serve them with milk!
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Oh yum!
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This is great on various levels (that didn’t deter the cat). “…buttered my ears and set me free…” is worth the price of admission alone (!).
I’m assuming it’s personal, not political, but since that’s where my mind goes, your conclusion can also be read as an immigrant’s cri de coeur.
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I like that!
Other people’s interpretations often make my work look better and more layered than it is… heh
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Actually, I saw it was “pulled me free…” Even better.
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hahaha, it’s one of those things I really wish I could remember, because it must have been hilarious
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I’m betting it wan’t quite so hilarious for you at the time,
I’d welcome your honest thoughts on my near-acrostic: “Chaos in America..” It would have been an actual acrostic just on the computer, but “mobilizing” it made the format screwy.
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Typo alert! Damn! I thought I’d proofed.
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Story of my life 😀
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‘square spindles cutting crisp shadows out of the moonlight’. When I read a brilliant line like that I curse my ethics which won’t allow me to steal it. I’ve read this poem aloud; I love it – it even tastes good.
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The amazing Jane Basil just praised my poem!!! ❤ GAASSSP *head falls off*
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Oh no! I’ve made Sarah’s head fall off! That’s the last time I write an honest comment on anyone’s blog. From now on if I find an incredible poem on ANYONE’S blog I’ll tell them it’s crap. It could save lives…
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Thank you. Now that I know it’s crap I can rest easy. *head falls off again*
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Try Wondaweb. I don’t know if it has the same name out there in the land of opportunity, but it’s the stuff folks use to glue hems on clothes if they’ve lost their needle in a haystack. I find it very effective when my wooden leg drops off.
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Our own limbs sure are fickle and wayward things.
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