the grapevine that grows

along our old garden fence 

posts cut from the land 

belonging to a couple

long since passed 

and the couple who

bought it leaves 

cucumbers and string beans 

on our front porch

the grapes are thick-

skinned and sweet 

leaves eaten by a 

foreign beetle 

just one more reason

the neighbors use 

to hate the city people

is it the varietal 

that toughens the exterior

or pests or the heat 

that scalds us in a way

we are still growing 

accustomed to

we are eating 

its fragile defenses 

plucked from a fence 

grown by ghosts

devouring insects transgress 

such small devices

electronics of difference 

not unlike a city 

here we are left intact 

our skins soften 

the fence falls in on itself

slowly and we never 

seem to get around 

to the repairs