Reassembled Observations of a Fence, Disassembled

01/ a division onto itself, an act of undoing, the splitrail fence splintered to disrepair across the landscape

02/ the territory fractured into divisions, property lines stitched between the momentary fences, the casual barricades

03/ the divisions built overnight between us, fences of indifference,

04/as a symbol, a fence serves only as an archetype of protection or a restriction

05/ after nightfall, a she-bear wanders closely beside a fallen fence, rubbing her back along the bottom rails, seeking the source of her itch

06/ silence constructs itself around a fallen fence

07/ —until a fox moves under folds of ferns in the shade of a broken railing

08/ a fence dividing itself from itself, shifting definition,

09/ —a discarded plastic bag caught along the bottom rails

10/ as a cell separates, building molecular fences between its halves, then quarters, territories split into infinite divisions of self, the body whole, a collection of boundaries and fenced properties

11/ the collective cells become a boy, a young man repairing a fence—

12/ a fence is not always a fence. Even with a grackle preening from the top rail—