Talking Over The Fence

O.G. Roscoe Edward, AKA The Duration

Listen

Jerks his thumb over his shoulder

Says, my house

Points a pistol finger past my ear, says

Your house

Yours is yours and mine is mine

That’s why we have property lines

Listen

We don’t really know each other

And you might be all kinds of clever

With a job downtown you don’t have to EVEN go to

But you been talking about building that fence forever

You ever wanna get past talking give me a shout

I’ve got a post hole auger and an air compressor

A chop saw and a chamfer router

You can’t finish what you don’t start

We are backyard next door neighbors

And we do have two things in common

We both have to rake your damn cherry blossoms

And we wanna keep your dog out of my yard

True that

Thinks he’s a farmer ‘cause he owns a riding mower

And a soldier ‘cause he shoots beer cans off a post

I don’t even know what weirds me out most

The Glock

Or the bow and arrow

Soooo it’s the Home Depot help line

Yes sir

I want everything I need and I want it delivered

They’ve hardly plopped it off they’ve already waved goodbye

These days they don’t even make you sign

And don’t let’s overreact

Says the lady on the radio

We’ve all had a bit of a scare

But the guardrails remain intact

Spring prevails like common sense

Like the scent of a fresh-mown lawn

The sun is out and the game is on

And my neighbor is helping me with the fence

And here he is

All beard and belt loops

MAGA hat and jangling tools

Gives me the eye like he’s already sized me up

And decided to throw me back

Says, privacy or security—

What?—

Privacy

Or security

Fence—

Wwwelll I was kinda hoping it wouldn’t even look too much like a fence—

He says, are we or are we not here to build us a fence

And I hup to, yes sir

Western red cedar

Pressure treated

Full perimeter

Tied off the existing deck

Wire mesh

On split rail

he says ah, your own little Lincoln project

OK, I don’t know what kind of plans you got

I just know what’s what

Walk it off

Stake it out

Do the math

Snap some lines

Dig some holes

And start making cuts

Here, take that and walk that back, OK there you go

One foot behind the other my friend

Till your back is against the wall, we call that the dumb end

Give me a foot and hold it low

OK good, now we know where we are

That’s the place to start

Good neighbors make good fences

I say, and he laughs, he’s been to high school too

There’s a poet, he says, good honest farmer, straight talkin’ working man

Kept his head on straight and kept busy with his hands

Not like these too cool for school fools now

Talking down their noses at you

Laughing cause you don’t understand

Don’t you know it’s a new day, things have changed

Or maybe they’re just changing back

Just might get that long nose broken

Plain as that one on your face you wasn’t hidin’ it behind that gaiter

What’d you do, wander 40 days and nights through the desert to get here?

Speaking of which they did do a good job on this skid

All labelled and numbered

Exploded diagram parts list

Premium quality galvy deck screws

Kinda surprised they didn’t just peel a couple guys off the line in the parking lot and send them too

But then they’d be here all quiet and grateful and dignified-like, making me crazy

Hanging around waiting to get paid

Like I’m not already paying ‘em to be here 6 ways from Sunday

Don’t get me wrong, come here work and fight for a better life fine

Just don’t make me have to hand it to you

Didn’t you ever want to do something then not, just because someone else told you you had to?

Like I don’t care what kind of slice of wedding cake you like, now I’ve gotta bake it for you too?

Always somebody else’s civil war

Every time I turn around

Some fight that isn’t mine somehow I gotta pay for

They gave me a gun

Sent me to fight em over there

Or we’d have to fight em here

So I shoved it in their face

Counted one two three

Poof, democracy

But they voted with their feet

Now they’re camping in my street

And I can’t even own that gun

It bothers me

I’m not the only one

Hey watch yourself there

Measure twice cut once

Remember plumb, level and square

Those little mistakes get too big to fix later

Never mind, just face that one around

I’ll take the rough side

I’m not your kind

I don’t care how it looks

I just care what works

Wait, I say, who’s us and who’s them and where’s here and over there again, I always forget

He says maybe you’ll know who’s us and who’s them

If you ever figure out who you are my friend

As for where’s over there our great grand dads found that out in ‘17

Always somebody else’s civil war

Taught them socialists what for

I say I don’t think that word means what you think it means

He says I know what’s a civil war

All been long since lost and won

What’s past is past what’s done is done

Or a 2 by 4 ain’t a 2 by 4

That’s a joke son

I know what’s a civil war

But this isn’t who we are

Says the lady on the radio

Stocks remain steady

In after hours trading

And the statues are still standing

They’re just being given context

And it’s starting to look like a fence

My great great grandad went to the loony bin, I say

Thought he was Napoleon

I always wonder what they think when they find out they’re not the only one

And I think that thin tight smile might snap

But he’s just laughing at me

Yanks the hammer from my hand like he just can’t stand to watch

Says look, listen and learn

See that, grab that fat part of the bat, that’s your balance

Squeeze don’t pull, don’t aim strike through

Let the weight of the tool do the work

Hands it back

With a little tug-of-war

Like he still can’t quite trust me with it loaded

It’s like being scolded by my father

But my father’s being scolded too

Stay tuned for the blow by blow

Says the lady on the radio

Continuing live coverage of events

With instant news, opinion, and analysis

Keep it right here

And you’ll know what we know

And it looks like we got us a fence

He does a little quick tight drop tuck and roll

pops up on his side shouts back

We did it right my friend

Board up that last low hole, don’t wait and don’t forget

Two coats of kilz

And the copper naphthenate

The screen door screams slams shut in the dark and he’s gone

I don’t think that porch light’s even out

I think he just never turns it on

Well there’s no moral to the story ‘cause the story isn’t over

Anything I tell you

Is the same I’d tell the cops

Or a tv news crew

He mostly keeps to himself

I might wave when I’m walking my dog and he might wave too

And I might blow up a freeze frame on the screen

Half afraid what I might see

And who

But I do

Same as I keep peeking through that fence

Don’t you

Just to see what happens next

We might not like the stand-your-ground warning signs in the yard

Or the stop-the-steal banner flags

Or the bumper stickers on the monster four-wheeler

But this isn’t the city but not quite the country either

There is money here

You can’t help but be grateful

The way he makes us all afraid

It just feels so much safer

He really doesn’t care who I love why should I care who he hates

He’s not going anywhere

I’m not going anywhere

We built this fence together

Nobody said anything about a gate

It’s not cowardice

And it’s not courage

I’ve got a thirty year mortgage

And it’s fixed rate