Fencing

AUTHOR NARRATION

Hear the poem.

Read by the author in the original English.

FencingEnglish narration

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

About the poem.

If there weren't page minimums for publishing on KDP, or if I were to re-do the collection today, this poem probably would not have been included.

It's definitely not one of my favorites, but it does help represent my overall journey by providing another something from my time in Austin, TX.

The poem is quite simply about the absurd fencing I observed there, at least in my neighborhood. There were so many types of fences everywhere, but all of drastically different types and styles, and many did not make any sense—they didn't even form a perimeter.

THE NEIGHBORHOOD NOW

A fence that isn’t a fence.

This is the area of Austin where I lived and saw the bizarre fencing that inspired the poem. Ironically, one of these lots has since become a sculpture garden—(non-)gated by a fence sculpture uncannily appropriate for “Fencing.”

Explore the neighborhood as it appears today, and look for the fence that fences nothing in.

FROM THE ARCHIVE

The evidence survives.

These are two photographs I found from this period, from around the house I lived in. They weren't taken with this poem in mind, and they aren't the best examples of the kind of ridiculous fencing I am describing, but they give you an idea of what I'm talking about.

A weathered white picket fence surrounded by plants beside a house in Austin. — 01
**White fence**
An older fence among the plants in Austin.

A pale blue picket fence seen from a porch in an Austin neighborhood. — 02
**Blue fence**
A second everyday boundary, seen from a neighborhood porch.

THE LIFE OF A PHRASE

Vim, Vigor, and Venom

IN THE POEM

“the and the of a colorful coat”

The line plays on the English idiom “vim and vigor,” replacing vigor with venom and giving its energy a sharper edge.

RECORDED FROM THE 14TH CENTURY

vigor

Already used in Middle English, this word came through French from Latin vigēre, “to be lively.”

FIRST RECORDED: 1843

vim

Its origin is less clear. It may come from Latin vim, the accusative form of vis, “force”; it may instead be an expressive American coinage.

WORD HISTORIESvigor · Merriam-Webster ↗vim · Merriam-Webster ↗vim · Oxford ↗

READER DISCUSSION

Share some words about these words.

No comments have been published yet. You can be the first reader to respond.