Self and Others

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.