Fences Take
Here the land’s been torn
then sewn into a quilt of plump
lawns and tight fences—
corrals for spaniels and retrievers.
Yesterday a doe and fawn crossed
the road into our yard, confined
by neighbors’ fences on three sides.
What the doe jumped, entrapped
the fawn. She raced
back and forth for hours, panting.
We had to stop watching.
Today the morning chill is cut
by a shimmer of rank heat rising
from the one spot where the grass
is tall and grows freely.
*
Jane Edna Mohler is the 2020 Bucks County Poet Laureate (Pennsylvania). Recent publications include MacQueen’s Quinterly, New Verse News, and Verse Virtual. Her collection, Broken Umbrellas was published by Kelsay (2019). She is Poetry Editor of the Schuylkill Valley Journal. www.janeednamohler.com
Those last two stanzas nail the fence posts home, and deeper.