Lament for the wall that kept no one out

It is a long, low wall of stone. A parallel line marking parallel lives.

The boys who sleep furtively beside the train line used to boldly spread their clothes to dry on this wall. As if the railway were a river and the stones were still strewn on the bank.

The soccer players constrained their strikes and passes on the grass strip between the wall and the road. Only once was there a calamity, when the ball was kicked into the path of a truck. The small pop made everyone clutch their heads and turn on their heels.

Twilight Football Teams

The few fans of the twilight football teams would lean on the wall, as though it were a stand but with no turnstile to pass.

Generations of lovers discovered it is the perfect height. One might sit with their legs dangling shy of the grass while the other stood between their thighs, enveloped in their arms.

The wall supported courtship, proposals, anniversaries and break-ups.

Many workers laid out their lunch beside them on the flat stone. Some plugged in their earphones. They sat at an angle that allowed a view of the harbour and the soccer.

No Lover, No Lunch

Those who had no lover and no lunch might read their holy books or their newspapers, looking up occasionally at a passing vendor or a low-flying pelican. Others would lie on their backs, staring at the sky, or basking in the sun and swinging their legs against the wall with a satisfying bounce.

The wall was erected in the 1860s.  It is still there. It is intact but now it is barricaded with clear-vu fencing topped with razor wire. The fence keeps no one out except those who enjoyed the wall.  It stops no one from getting onto the railway line for the purposes of committing crime or suicide, or escaping from criminals, or the police (it is broken or has gaps in several places).

The fencing has gone up on the outer side of the wall.  This means you can no longer watch the worlds passing through the harbour. You can no longer take photos. You cannot lean, sit or lie on the wall.

Ministry for Erecting Fences

I don’t know what the Ministry for Erecting Fences in Front of Walls was thinking. I suspect it has something to do with budgets that need to be budged.

I doubt they gave a thought to the people who use the wall. Fences are going up – and coming down – everywhere, around parks, around so-called public buildings. There seems to be no interest in how people use space, just an obsession with keeping everyone out.