Crumbs From the Corner: Adventures in Woolgathering

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Chalk Line



Men would live exceedingly quiet if these two words, mine and thine, were taken away.
-Anaxagoras, Greek philosopher, ca. 500 BC - 428 BC

Chalk Line

This is my side of the room, I say
when I am barely four feet high
but already territorial.
This is my side. I draw the line
with a piece of chalk;
my sibling now trapped
on his side of the shared bedroom-
the side, of course, that has no door.
How will I get out? he cries.
That is not my concern:
this is my side, I claimed it
and you cannot cross.
A piece of chalk makes it mine
your toe must not traverse my border
under any circumstances.
However, you can pay a toll
if you use my door
and cross the chalk line.
And you, my sibling says,
pay such a fine to me
for use of my quarters.
I sneer. I find that funny.
Why on earth would I
be concerned with your area
when I have drawn a chalk line
and affirmed my own?
I am content here.
But my side has the window,
my sibling declares.
Perhaps you want to see outside?
I snort and smirk.
This is a fine stretch of space
I need no window on the world.
What can the window show me
that I cannot see here
in my own chalk-marked plot?
Your side is inferior, I say,
but if I desired it
I could claim that just as easily.
And it continues with me thinking
that my plot is all I need.
I shall guard my place forever.

A voice booms from below,
shattering every illusion
reducing my reasoning to stupid splinters
DINNER, Mother cries.
Sibling runs across my patch,
I stand in a puddle of melted logic.

-TheElementary

5 comments:

julochka said...

that's so funny! i did that to my sister too, only with tape and my side didn't have the door. but i made an exemption in which i was allowed to cross her territory to use the door. she had to accept. she was 5½ years younger. :-) maybe all kids do that at some point. if they have a sibling they have to share with.

Pappy said...

Hi The, Aren't sisters great? I lived with one, two years younger than me, before I moved away as an adult. She made my life miserable much of the time. Thanks for the reminder.

Phyllis Hunt McGowan said...

Julie, ah- 51/2 years younger, so you were ruler over all. I do think everyone does it. Have a good rest of weekend.
Texican, I think too that all siblings make each other miserable at some point :)
I think it's their job. Hope your Sunday is getting better.

Jaime said...

Hehe...I'm so glad I had my own room. My brother would have monopolized for sure!!

Phyllis Hunt McGowan said...

Jaime, I did get my own room when I was thirteen and I was so glad and did appreciate it.
"My brother would have monopolized"- that's quite funny :)

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