Redwood Fence

Redwood Fence

c. Brian J. Kalinec

p. Berkalin Wood Publishing (ASCAP) 2023

Thin redwood slats woven 'round the posts

Our backyard fence in 1965

Shielded us from what we didn't know

Separate but not equal from both sides

Coexisting on uneasy terms

A century of anxiousness rolled by

Just how long does it take a man to learn

That fear is just a hollow alibi

How long does it take a man to learn? x1

One by one the slats began to break

The pounding of our baseball splintered them

The chain link fabric stretched to take their place

Let the lives behind us shine right in

Our neighbors' story couldn't be ignored

History just couldn't be rolled back

The garden they were growing fed their world

Some consolation for awareness that we lacked

How long does it take a man to learn? x2

Neighbor kids will always make quick friends

And on my backyard swings we soon took flight

Breathing in the power of the wind

Brilliant living colors, black and white

How long does it take a man to learn? x2

I drove by my old house some months ago

Stopped to see if I could make some sense

Of those memories which ebb and flow

I noticed there no longer was a fence

I'd like to think that all is better now

Those struggles are just some museum text

But delusion is the fool's most certain route

To ignore the changes that must happen next

     

I'd like to think that we were pure of heart

and recognized injustice where it stood

But at times we blindly played familiar parts

And failed to raise our voices as we should

How long does it take a man to learn? x2

Fences make good neighbors is the line

I cannot deny this in the end

But a fence can be a wall to hide behind

If there's no gate to let our neighbors in.