FSO- Fences

"All over my town there are fences - tall ones and short ones, old and new, elegant and shabby. They all have something to say - like "Keep out," "Be careful!" (like this one) or "Stay right where you are," "I'm utterly exhausted" or "Look at me. Aren't I splendid?" Some have gates; others simply define a space or support a heavy vine. What kinds of fences are there in your town? Do they really make good neighbours? Or do they just isolate us? " - Sandra Leigh

I remember when I was growing up, there were no fences. Only people who had money, farmers who needed to keep their animals from roaming, or someone who just did not want people walking on their grass. Racism in our neighborhood was the highest fence around.  Many people put those fences up even now.

I believe at long ago no fences existed at all. Has fear created them?

I live in an area full of farms; otherwise even new homes are built without fences...

No fences

Remember back in the day, roads and streets, filled with children
Soccer, bikes, and baseballs flew
Across yards, and into backyards
Children had no boundaries, no fear, no unknown grounds
Houses were the same, filled with love, sometimes anger, but still full of truth
There was no such thing as a stranger, or unseen danger
If you stood out back you could see clotheslines and trees
On a good day you could see far, straight through, and blocks away
When the sun was high in the air, clothes filled each line, nobody cared
Once in a while you could hear mom and dad loudly sharing till dawn
Whiskey and bullets ruled the night; scarring mothers, children, and strangers
Up came the fences
No one wants to see into neighbors homes or lives
Neighbors have become strangers
Sisters and brothers now, isolated, are in even more danger.
Playgrounds give way to grave yards
Traces of things long gone, remain to be seen…

© E. Stelling, 9/29/08

Out one day last summer I was studying this 'Ornamental' fence from the 1700's in a historic park, back when iron was 'in fashion'; it did not surround the whole house, just merely decorated the front patches of grass as you walked up the front walk. Fashion, or style  influences are choices in many things.