unfencing

I stopped to talk to James

         leaning

on the last rail of

          fence

   ((once a boundary for kids

             who wave

                  now from worlds edge
he went on about

        a place no longer

               being a home

as much as a spot

hollowed out to wait

while 

wheezing ones way to a conclusion

     

       it is

       he said

just a place to fold

a faded map of nowhere

and to un-dogear pages

that will never be returned to
I picked a slat from the pile

                        contemplated

                  the weight of it

wondering about his expression

which was not unlike 

that of a fish
       mouthing 

       something 

       I could not hear
(c) 2016 Fred Whitehead