THE DOOR KNOCKER

Who comes here -

 The manners of archaic hominid:

soon as he hung skins, by way of a door in his cave

soon as they discovered the worth

of water, resources, shelter;

long before he individualized, he knew

about privacy, family and tribe.

The pre-warning signs were innate

tap-tap, knock-knock, ting-ling!

Noises in the night or stealthy silences

caused nerves to race, minds to reel

for survivals' sake.

Since invention of doors and gates

 - the value of perimeters,

we added walls - ever wider, taller;

then look-out portals, watch-towers or moats

to fortify us, not only from predators

 but our own thieving, incestuous kind.

The courtesy of door-knockers

prevails 

through lands and generations:

a precursing welcome, biding time:

a threshold between this and that,

between my, your sovereignty 

and no-man’s-land  - neutral zones;

where we create borders, ports and check-points,

with armed guards, tariffs and taxes:

akin to sticklebacks honing their territorial intrusions to the midpoint, exactly;

ways in or out, on terms/with a price - forsooth.