Fence Lines

Fence Lines

The fence lines are breaking into slabs,
held up by the barb wire
Already you know, they will not be repaired.
Disease sucks your breathing in two packs
a day, you used to pause with, and study
the land.
It is still the land that worries you from your window.
The mudslide beside the iron grates the cows need
when they come home.
Not enough feed this year for the horses.
And Roy won't work this farm.
Not after you are gone.
He hasn't planted anything but marajuana
in that piece by the river.
You pretend not to know.
You try to mention the new posts for the fence line,
but you save your breath.
Everything is too real and transparent.
Especially Roy. His eyes stray past yours.
His lips droop with waiting.
He has forgotten to move your bed downstairs.
You need to fix the fence line..
You are trying to speak,
but Roy is fiddling in his pockets
and looking the other way.

Reviews

[R J Askew]

The 'fence line' sounds like something from a blues song. And the title cleverly refers to the poem. For this Brit, this poem feels 100 pct American. It puts me in mind of American films and Of Mice N Men desperation. The disconnect between the writer and Ray is almost painful, as if the feeling of everything going to pot, literally. The sense of failure and disappointment is almost palpable. There is a weary desperation in the poem, but 'you save your breath' stoically. 'He isn't planting anything but marajuana' is the line for me. That damn Ray needs a post up his lazy a*s! Graet read, a novel reduced to a poem.

[Gandré]

oh this was wonderful, the fist I thought was.... this is so wonderfully American.....what a sensitive psychological moment you present in few lines. I loved this. Favorite. Wow, no wonder you are published here and there and everyhere.

[W.k.kortas]

The learned Orlando has absolutely hit the nail on the head as to the sweep and visual nature of the piece.
It is a full-length feature film reduced to twenty-five lines without losing a damn thing. Your ability to do this--which is nothing less than uncanny--is a gift that just keeps giving.