Self and Others
by Ute Carson
Expanded Field Journal, Summer 2021

How do we venture into the lives of others
and still remain true to ourselves?
We demarcate relationships
between teachers and students while learning,
between counselors and clients while conversing,
between doctors and patients while healing.
We build barriers, high and solid,
or wire fences between properties,
erecting No Trespassing signs for emphasis.
But we also plant hedges
for words to travel across, even handshakes.
I prefer flexible boundaries.
My favorites are the ones made of rope
that I can climb over or crawl under.
When I get snagged by a thorn or a twig
I retreat and regroup.
We all have sensibilities
knitted together by nerve tangles.
There are narrow openings in the knotted web
where messages can slip through.
It takes persistence to burrow through the mesh
and reach a waiting heart.

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