POETRY-16

Summer 2022

Cedar
Western redcedar. photo by John F. Williams

POETRY-16

Summer 2022

INVASION

by Diane Moser

Beneath my window
cedars as old as Lewis and Clarke
climb skyward
reaching for rain and morning light.

They try to ignore the ivy
that climbs their trunk,
invasive tentacles reaching
up, up, choking bark
as they climb.

Their shiny green leaves
betray its purpose,
passing for attractive,
an addition to any garden,
but look again —

a calling card
the English left
as they forfeited America.

I Am Subterranean

by Lauren “Ivy” Clark

Relationship Status: Single-year, non-native nitrogen-fixing legume

My name is Trifolium subterraneum; you can call me TRISUB for short. I grew up in Europe & northern Africa, looked for love in all the wrong places, and so these days I’ve adapted to mainly self-fertilization. You’ve probably met a few of my exes (some bolder clovers), but I’m a little more subtle and shy with only a few flowers on my head. But with my low early-season growth, self-sowing fruits creating a significant seedbank, and dense growth I can crowd out the competition. I do offer good forage for cattle and, I’m so hardy, I’m sown in Australia for green low-maintenance fire-lines. No bragging. I’ve been in the US since the 1920’s. I’m making my way across the Pacific Northwest now. I hope to see you around; maybe have a wintery date?

I am emerging.
From the dark and cool into glistening frost;
From a bank of dormant sisters,
Waiting to replace any being lost

Before the drought of summer,
Mother tucked me safely below her love,
In her bristled home-made baby basket
Warm in the dark, as she withered above.

Walking in sunshine or under our drizzled rain,
You can find me in your neighborhood
No knowing how I arrived or when,
Look down on me; it won’t look good.

See drops caught on my fuzzy leaves
Making me splendid in shimmering dew
A fabulous Fabaceae, with terminal trinity
Leaflets of three, likely familiar to you.

Trapping green crabs

Soon the spring drizzle will dry,
I’ll quietly erect my competitive blooms.
The surest I.D. of me, counting them little
Three to eight white tubes, some joined in maroon.

Trapping green crabs

Soon I’ll cover wherever I reach
And I’m a tasty nitrogen fixing protein treat
For the varied, trudging or shodden
Nibbling and probing ungulates I greet.

I’m short but I’m safe and I’m sweet
They won’t overgraze me from my seat.
Even fires barely lick at my feet,
My offset season it cannot defeat.

No need to watch your step
Your tread I can surely take.
I sprawl low in a fluffy mat of green,
Space for others among me I hardly make.

Trapping green crabs

Between the depth of winter dark
And full kaleidoscope colors of mid spring,
I’ll make myself a mother,
Keeping genes tight in a family fling.

Then my peduncle will stretch and turn
Down and digging a geocarpic demonstration.
Self-fertile and self-seeding, I am super self-sufficient
Hardy and adept, I’ll handle any situation

Eat me, beat me, or burn me
I’m fodder, I spread and I allure
I hope you don’t mind my subterranean crawl
Into your yards and wildlands, I can endure.

Diane Moser lives on the Kitsap Peninsula overlooking the beautiful Olympic Mountains where a lifetime of observation is reflected in her poetry.
Her poems have appeared in Civilization In Crisis, Poems For Las Vegas, Poetry Expressions, Ars Poetica and her new chapbook, View from My Window.
Chase Gunnell
Lauren “Ivy” Clark, plant ecologist by day & artist by night, works currently in South Sound prairie and forest habitats conducting ecological restoration, specializing in rare plant ecology, while doing general gardening as well as helping bring nature indoors to seniors in care communities. Ivy (not the invasive plant, f.y.i.) can also be found baking, painting, practicing dance moves, or backpacking to explore the Pacific Northwest’s many trails and fascinating habitats. A life-long love of plants started in the south and led to study at the University of Washington and into the preservation of the PNW natural areas for continued growth and exploration.

Table of Contents, Issue #16, Summer 2022

Story of Knotweed

Story of Knotweed

By Skye Pelliccia, Summer 2022 King County Noxious Weed Control ProgramYoung late-spring knotweed on gravel. photo by Sara Price, KCNWCPBy Skye Pelliccia, Summer 2022 King County Noxious Weed Control ProgramIf the timeline of Earth’s history stretched across your arm...

CWMA photos

CWMA photos

by Douglas Crist — Issue 16, Summer 2022Friends of the Farms partnering with Island School to clear invasive species and establish native, primarily edible plants at the Bainbridge Island Native Food Forest.  An educational ecosystem restoration project, building...

Double Jeopardy

Double Jeopardy

The Intersection of Climate Change and Invasive Species By Paul Heimowitz, Summer 2022Purple varnish clam. photo by John F. WilliamsThe Intersection of Climate Change and Invasive Species By Paul Heimowitz, Summer 2022The arrival of non-indigenous people to the Salish...

Green Frog

Green Frog

Female green frog at county stormwater pond #147. photo by Elizabeth Springborn Melissa Fleming, Ph.D.Photos by Melissa Fleming except as notedSummer 2022The green frog (Lithobates [Rana] clamitans) is the classic frog of my East Coast childhood: often the size of...

Garden Escapees

Garden Escapees

by Sarah Lorse (photos also by Sarah)English ivy (Hedera helix) creeps through the fence and overwhelms an intentionally planted native orange honeysuckle (Lonicera ciliosa).by Sarah Lorse (photos also by Sarah) Issue 16, Summer 2022It is easy for us gardeners to pick...

Invasives and killer whales

Invasives and killer whales

Orca mother and child. photo courtesy of NOAATara Galuska, Governor’s Salmon Recovery OfficeChelsea Krimme and Justin Bush, Washington Invasive Species Council Summer 2022The image of a large, black-and-white killer whale jumping from the water before falling back...

European Green Crab

European Green Crab

the key to management success is community collaboration By Leah Robison (Northwest Straits Commission) and Chase Gunnell (Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife), Summer 2022Large European green crab. photo by by Jonathon Hallenbeckthe key to management success...

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