Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Bane & Woe


Naughty, naughty, Poison Ivy:
Touch my skin and make me hive-y.
Blotchy skin and splotchy face:
Itchy, itchy every place!


Should have looked a little closer,
Maybe purchased from a grocer;
Should have brought a field guide:
Now I've got that stuff inside!
Thought I knew the out-of-doors---
Wandered over hills and moors---
Now I think I'll stay at home:
'Til tomorrow---then I'll roam.

---C. Marie Byars, 1986

2 comments:

Niharika B said...

nice poem...it's got a nice flow...
wonder what inspired you to write it...i especially liked the first few lines..."naughty,naughty,poison ivy...".got a nice ring...

u talked about walt whitman the last time you commented on my blog...i've read a couple of his works and i find them quite thought-provoking....

i have two new posts and i would really like you to check them out.
please do read my very first blog-post...it's called introspection and you'd find it if you searg for it in the search toolbar.
would love to read more of your posts!

C. Marie Byars said...

Thanks for coming over. I've been a bit busy but will visit you soon. This ditty was just prompted by a bit of silliness---I grew up in a place which has no poison ivy & was temporarily living in a place which did. Plus a cousin of mine had had a bad run-in with it in childhood. So I wondered what it would be like...And a "nursery rhyme" sort of meter stuck in my head. It doesn't perfectly fit that pattern with exact syllables, but the rise & fall of accents sort of does.