Lessons on Sovereignity from Poison Ivy
Some might call it the scariest plant
The name alone makes you look askance
at the thought of going outside at all,
never mind the heat, mosquitos or a fall
But the cold hard facts should be undeniable:
Poison Ivy is a Teacher, her lessons unrefinable.
If you block her number, ignore what she says,
IT WON'T GO WELL FOR US. I SAID WHAT I SAID.
Lessons repeat themselves until they are learned.
Here is the first, learn or be burned!
Poison Ivy, she ain't here for your sake.
Native groundcover and berries she makes.
The migratory birds love her— a top choice berry.
Birds are also declining— extinction is scary.
If you don't understand how extinction cascades,
Now is the time to understand it, no charades!
I'm not saying let poison ivy climb on your corn,
but her sovereignty starts before you were born.
Boundaries can and should be negotiated,
but poison ivy's mere existence is integrated.
She doesn't create the whole ecosystem alone,
but without her, the ecosystem is missing a bone.
Those with no elders might touch and be burned,
but obliterating in anger means lesson still unlearned.