Good fences make good neighbours.
–Robert Frost, “Mending Wall”

Blight your hair with blood
drag through the rusty comb,
yea, we don’t fear forged iron.
We smite with scythe and cross
the uncrossed border, laughing.
Nay, none of us are tied
to place or time, a crime
is just daylight to us:
The night another playground
and the crossroads meet us
at our glimmering point.
It’s not too late to anoint
that broken wall with gore
that broken treaty too
that broken peace
that broken covenant;
it’s no mystery
why Scottish quid
and English quid
are not reciprocal.
Remember when the borders
were the liminal world,
where Romans built a wall:
they could keep the blue-faced in
but nary us. If we wish to move
amongst you, we don
our leather and linen,
steel-toed workingman’s boots.
Top it all off
with jaunty red cap.
You know the one I mean.
You recognize the danger.
Yes, we crossed the pond
some hundreds’ years’ ago
and keep the blood a’flowin’.

[Denise Dumars is a widely published poet, short fiction, and nonfiction writer. Her most recent book of poetry, Animal Gnosis, was published by AlienBuddha press and garnered an Elgin Award nomination. In addition to writing, Denise is a Hierophant in the Fellowship of Isis, an international spiritual organization headquartered in Ireland. She can be found on Facebook, Instagram, BlueSky, and at www.DeniseDDumars.com. She lives in Los Angeles’ beautiful South Bay region.]