We gathered our backpack filled with
hand lenses, plant ID books, water and our favorite
sourdough, peanut butter, banana, and fruit spread sandwiches.
Changing into gumshoes for the expected wetlands trails
we meet at a storefront near the trailhead before leaving
together for this early morning forest ranger guided tour of the flora.
We encounter the common periwinkle, a lovely purplish ground cover flower,
considered an invasive, problematic species brought over from Europe during the 1700s.
White people who control the skyscrapers of power don’t write in bios
their role as an invasive species in this land.
I love this combination of sour dough, periwinkle, skyscraper, forest ranger, gumboot, and storefront! You have drawn all these random elements into a thoughtful poem. Please consider submitting it for consideration to be published in this year’s anthology.
Thank you for your kind comment.
That last stanza really lingers
“White people who control the skyscrapers of power don’t write in bios
their role as an invasive species in this land. ”
I didn’t know that about periwinkle, although it’s a thought I’ve had about other invasive species.