Picket White Fence (poetry)

Picket White Fence by Matasha Lee

It is time to build a dream of our elaborate imagination.

Our fence of perfection is being built today.

The wood that is being used has to be constructed perfectly.

We use a picture seen in a magazine of a family of four, with a two story house, mini van, and the picket white fence,

This all represents the American dream.

We lay the parts out in line with how we want our fence to look: following the instructions of the picture.

We begin to paint the tanish-brown wood, white.

Each stroke of paint has to cover all the wood,

No mistakes!

As we finish the stroke of paint upon the board,

We envision the picture within our minds of how the magazine looked and set the fence up accordingly.

As the work is being completed, we make sure that everyone is playing their part of constructing our picket, white fence.

The fence is now done.

We take a look at our completed work and stand in amazement.

We are shocked at the view we see.

We have our picket white fence, but our picture isn’t complete.

We have done something wrong.

Our design doesn’t look like the picture in the magazine.

We have our picket white fence but no home.

We have no family of four to put behind our fence because our family is destroyed.

There is no minivan to carry us to our all-American dream.

If we tried to put our family behind the fence,

We wouldn’t know which family to choose.

Our picture is an illusion.

It is not real.

And as this truth is being revealed, I realized

That it was only me with the paint brush in my hand, no dream, no family, no fence,

Trying to paint our picket white fence.

(image by Mailis Laos)