Don’t Fence Me In

by Sheila Sondik and Michael Dylan Welch

First published in Skylark 5:1, Summer 2017, page 111. Originally written in October of 2011, by email.

dappled fawn

along the new fence

sunlight flickers Sheila

a tuft of cat fur

on the wrought-iron curlicue Michael

meadowlarks perch

between the barbs

cattle lowing Sheila

wet with paint

from the white pickets

our new retriever Michael

connecting the split rails

a spider’s zigzag web Sheila

migrating geese

the rancher switches off

his electric fence Michael