Swans Commentary » swans.com August 28, 2006  

 

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by Martin Murie

 

Poetry

 

 

(Swans - August 28, 2006) 
Barbed wire in the mind
I'll call it that.
Four strand fence, barbs sharp
against chest and gut and legs.
          Border Line
I step back into my territory
and yours.
To step over or slip under antelope style
I risk branding
and so do you.
The brands were made in struggles past.
    INNOCENT BUT DELUDED
    EXTREMIST
    CLASS WAR SPOUTER
    ANTI-AMERICAN
    ENVIRONMENTALIST
    ENVIRONMENTAL TERRORIST
    TERRORIST
New brands ordered if needed
or the old altered with a red hot
running iron.

But what the hell
I step back to the barbs
notice a slight sag in the top wire
someone has stepped over
or was it just a range cow scratching its hide
or a bull elk rubbing his antlers?
I stay, looking into great swatches of dark
and of light, familiar and yet not quite
and the lights and darks shift
as if nothing is totalized, nothing
locked in
and the winds, those winds out there
they touch your face differently, they leave
a tangy taste.

We could compare notes.
Let's do that.
Then what?

 

 

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Internal Resources

poetry

Activism under the Radar Screen

 

About the Author

Martin Murie on Swans (with bio).

 

Legalese

Please, feel free to insert a link to this work on your Web site or to disseminate its URL on your favorite lists, quoting the first paragraph or providing a summary. However, please DO NOT steal, scavenge, or repost this work on the Web or any electronic media. Inlining, mirroring, and framing are expressly prohibited. Pulp re-publishing is welcome -- please contact the publisher. This material is copyrighted, © Martin Murie 2006. All rights reserved.

 

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