Border Fence

Border Fence

Day, coarse and merciless, rushes

between the wire,

fills the fence, its round

square spaces, towering emptiness and dusty points,

lifeless soil, a place

for prayer, coating his safe, holy feet

blistering heat assimilates

with psalms and prayers, too silent

to hear the tension, reverent faces secluded

by grids, perspiration dripping into brows,

bowing

cicada chirps harmonizing,

avoiding eye contact

with the girl your age,

across the separation

divine mass of hymns where voices

congregate but

refuse to touch.