A line in the grass
carved by a mower
indicating separation
between my yard and his
I mow mine
and he mows his
Different times
different methods
different heights
different philosophies
about what constitutes
what is the yard
and what is
weeds
the border
when to mow
But I don’t own my yard
and he doesn’t own his
We rent
The yards are one yard
the separation a construct
designed to give us
a sense of ownership
Control
This single yard
with the story-book division
is owned by a different man
our landlord
and it
in turn
is separated from the yards of others
by trees shrubs streets
and philosophies
But our landlord doesn’t own the yard
as others don’t own theirs
no matter what’s on the papers
we clutch and sign and squirrel away
in case we need to defend
our illusions
from the illusions of others
because
there are no yards
The separation is only
in our minds
giving us
a sense of ownership
Control
It is all one yard
not even separated
by the great bodies of water
we use to demarcate
what we think of
as continents and islands
Continuous land
under water
and over mountain
A great sphere of land
A giant yard
Masterless
Ownership of it
but a comfortable illusion
designed to give us
this sense of ownership
Control
No one owns land
we are a product of it
We don’t own anything
really
not even ourselves
And that’s how it should be
it is okay
It’s good
It means you are free.
Well done.
Thanks for poetry/prose…a nice way to start the week.