Untended, poison oak injures
Wild flowers and running cedar,
Usurps water and nutrients, spreads voraciously;
Untended, poison ivy climbs onto walnut branches,
Embeds root tentacles in rough bark
To support the three-leaved vertical climb,
Tendrils wrap around thin twigs,
Secure surreptitious ascents,
Take sun away from the old tree’s pinnate leaves.
They both breed in the worst of soils,
Where their early spring pioneers multiplied
Like words spilled from viper spit,
Angry earworms—repeated
In refrains, themes, and musical phrases.
Untended, diatribes spread across
Language maps, like ancient wandering clans,
Seeds slung back and forth upon a heavy wind,
To settle in the midst of poetic groves,
To swarm in library hives and overwrite the books
With brazen, meaty, buzz words
Replicate in all soils and create a rash of
Intemperate sounds.
© cmheuer
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