Old Fences

It's amazing what a fence requires,
how good paint wears,
wood rots
with the notching of years
and nails push through.

Insects complete the destruction.
It’s an oft-told tale.

Slats and rails most often need repair,
but even posts,
sunk as they are in concrete,
decay in place.
Not a shred of original fence
may be left to test.

And, so, alike to fences,
we wait repair
in humble and patient silence;
just as we must grab
for whatever sticks out
like a limb that remains unbroken.

We, as tokens of disinterest and neglect,
are largely left
as monuments next up in line,
whether patched or broken,
and reluctantly revered for insistence
on our own sweet time.