i
the door is
a barrier
that must be
conquered
I swear
this is what
my son
must be thinking
every time
I close
the bathroom door
in our house
ii
why do we
erect barriers
except for privacy
and shame
we close doors
pull down shades
and build fences
around our homes
all this makes
sense to me
the difference between
adult and child
iii
barriers provide protection
so we are building
a fence along our
border with Mexico
and Arizona passed a law
a barrier made of words
to punish those
who crossed that line
three days after
we began spilling oil
without barriers
into a gulf not ours
* * * * *
This poem is a response to the doors prompt at We Write Poems.
WOW! You and I are on the same wavelength, Mr. W. The "doors" of human-made borders; of language, and those Mexican scenarios now informing what has happened to the Gulf of... Mexico.
ReplyDeletePowerful stuff. As my daughter would say, "Come the revolution, I want you in MY trench!" Great work.
Amy (Sharp Little Pencil)
Amy, thank you so much for commenting on this poem. I really struggled with that "door" prompt - but this is where I went with it. You just let me know, I'll jump in that trench beside you.
ReplyDeleteMr. Walker (Wondering if you have a first name - LOL) -- so very true about so many things WITH barriers and the painfuly sad scenario of the oil WITHOUT barriers. Oh that we could erect a barrier to contain it to provide protection as we manage to do for other things. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteMary, you went farther than I thought and read some older poems as well. Thank you. We sometimes think we need protection, when we really don't, and don't provide protection when we should. By the way, it's Richard. (Sorry, it's a teacher thing.)
ReplyDelete