Caitlin Palo

Border Folly

from this side
to the other side

an owl makes its nest in between

there is a people here
and there another people

the creek has dried up in the ravine

from here you can see there
from there you can see here

there is a line drawn a distinction seen

a line can go this way
or a line can go that way

eight directions of attack and defense

cardinal and ordinal made of
north south east west

not as the crow flies from daily forage to nightly rest

the warrior is a tower who forgets the bridge
whose lines are drawn and sights are set

the bridge is the border turned on its axis

and on its back walk art deco lights and
under its belly the youth rave and dance

Caitlin Palo practices poetry, gardening, and martial arts in Seattle, where she earned her PhD in English from the University of Washington. She is a member of a multi-generational writing group and participates in the Conscious Writers Collective. Her work has been published in The Ekphrastic Review, The Inflectionist Review, Hominum Journal, and Kitchen Table Quarterly. Website: caitlinpalo.com. Bluesky: cpalo.bsky.social.