{"id":266,"date":"2016-11-30T21:25:42","date_gmt":"2016-12-01T02:25:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.davidselby.com\/blog\/?p=266"},"modified":"2016-11-30T21:25:42","modified_gmt":"2016-12-01T02:25:42","slug":"a-white-picket-fence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.davidselby.com\/blog\/2016\/11\/30\/a-white-picket-fence\/","title":{"rendered":"A White Picket Fence"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/p>\n

The myth of a white picket fence has
\nalways held some attraction for me.
\nIts looks ordered, cozy, inviting
\ndespite its role of protector
\nof what looms on the other side.
\nI’ve never seen a lock
\non a gate
\nof a white picket fence.
\nThe white picket fence does for the house
\nwhat a fine frame does for the painting
\nit draws you in
\nsomeone in there cares
\nsomeone you can trust
\nwho knows the value
\nof a good rocker
\nwith wide arms and high back
\nwho craves the rich creamy
\ntaste of a peanut butter sandwich.
\nIsn’t that a blackberry cobbler on the window sill?
\nSo you know stashed in the ice box
\nis a half eaten quart of genuine
\nfrench vanilla ice-cream.
\nYes whoever lives there understands
\nabout the time of you and me
\nspread-eagled on a sunny grassy knoll
\nwhen the wind blew away time
\nleaving only peace and grace.<\/p>\n

Is there a lovelier word than grace?
\nOr a lovelier sight
\nthan a Christmas tree with lights?
\nIt has taken me too long
\nto learn about grace
\nthough I’ve been in its company for years
\nbut I always knew about Christmas tree lights.
\nI would lie on the couch
\nin the dark
\nbut for the many colored lights
\nand a pocketful of hope
\nsquint my eyes
\nmaking a kaleidoscope of dancing lights.
\nThere was no time
\nonly the tree, the lights and me.
\nI was in their grace
\nat the altar snug and warm and safe
\nhappy as a picket fence.<\/p>\n

I have foolishly spent an inordinate
\namount of time searching
\nfor my white picket fence.
\nPerhaps that is why
\nthe pages of Unique Homes
\nheld such allure drawing my eyes to
\nthe white fences of Lexington, Kentucky
\nthe white barns and houses on
\nthe rolling hill farms of Charlottesville, Va.
\nthe white fogged ridges of Ashville, N.C.
\nthe white birches of Vermont
\nthe white waves and sand of Big Sur
\nthe white clouds of a San Francisco penthouse
\nthe great white way of New York
\nbut still no white picket fence.<\/p>\n

It is Christmas time again.
\nThe beloved tree is adorned.
\nI lie on the couch
\nwatch the lights
\nmusic is in the air
\nand though time is harder to hold still
\nI believe that Santa is near
\nand he knows my name.
\nI am snug and warm and safe
\nin a manger under my tree of lights
\nwith a white picket fence around me.<\/p>\n

I have always clung to my Christmas tree
\nas a child to its mother hoping
\ndespite my limitations and frustrations
\nI belonged and someday I would find
\nmy white picket fence.
\nWell I did find it
\nwhen I realized that grace wasn’t just
\nthe name of my next-door neighbor
\nwhen I accepted grace
\nas the love and favor of my wife and children
\nand of my friends.
\nSo if God is everywhere
\nthen God is in each of you
\nand each of you
\nis a light on my Christmas tree
\nand each of you
\nis a stake
\nin my white picket fence.<\/p>\n

Webmaster’s Note:<\/strong> “A White Picket Fence” appears in\u00a0Happenstance<\/a><\/em>, a poetry collection by David Selby.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The myth of a white picket fence has always held some attraction for me. Its looks ordered, cozy, inviting despite its role of protector of what looms on the other side. I’ve never seen a lock on a gate of a white picket fence. The white picket fence does for the house what a fine […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,6],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.davidselby.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.davidselby.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.davidselby.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.davidselby.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.davidselby.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.davidselby.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":269,"href":"http:\/\/www.davidselby.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266\/revisions\/269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.davidselby.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.davidselby.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.davidselby.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}