Decades ago, a severe drought took its toll
And many parts of the U.S. became a dust bowl
To control the erosion of the soil
The Kudzu plant was introduced amid the turmoil
It grows at a rate of a foot per day
Smothering other plants in its way
In all directions it will go
With no indication it will ever slow
It cycles nitrogen through the soil at a high rate
Doubling nitric oxide emissions with no sign it will abate
Though a plant that was once in need
In the 1970's it was demoted to a weed!
---
Down yonder in the large-leafed kudzu patch
Where it is thick, silky, and very green
Clinging to gullied hills it tries to catch
Where young lovers tucked away, won't be seen
That is, if it is during mid-summer
And a couple can hide in the vines
But do you want to meet him with murmurs
Running around, that will be some grand lines
Is that a memory you want to face?
When you are old, worn, gray facing the judge
It is good that Jesus gives His grace
For through His grace, He erases every smudge
The summer kudzu patch is a nice green
Jesus in His grace is an awesome King
Ode to Kudzu
Kudzu! O my limber lianas
Your “vines” “soar” o’re magnolia scented boughs
Then “glide” through briar thickets
Of purple stained blackberry kisses.
Kudzu! O my summer “hued” climber
No native son, you “hold” onto songs of lazy rivers
Then “clasp” the lyrics of midnight trains to your heart
In million pines with roots to “grasp” red tinted earth.
Kudzu! O my trailing tangled rambling mass
I “gasp” in awe and “clutch” your leafy majesty
Framed in humid solstice sunlight to “inhale”
Your sweet breath of newborn blossoms.
Kudzu! O my creeping southern smile
Impervious to scorching sun or wild hurricanes
Your ghostly outlines haunt trees and telephone wires
But when frost comes I mourn to see your empty trellis - NOT!
7-8-21
Contest: Grasp
Sponsor: Constance LaFrance
Prompt words: grasp, vines, clutch,, gasp, hold, clasp, glide, soar, inhale, hued
kudzu takes hold
durable, invasive growth
a yenta's grapevine
8-16-18
My love for you
Is like the kudzu,
That surrounds us in this place;
Changing the landscape of my life
Forever;
It is Unyielding ,
Unrelenting
And cannot
Be contained.
2012 Patricia Neely-Dorsey
from My Magnolia Memories and Musings-In Poems
#southernpoem #kudzu #kudzupoem #southernlove
Come's, our two thousand and ninety-fourth year;
the earth is green, and the atmosphere clear.
The mimosa and kudzu continue to grow,
and which shall prevail – does anyone know?
The kudzu is stronger and more eager to win,
but the winter remains mimosa’s old friend.
Humans? They’ve become an insignificant bunch;
living under mimosa, having kudzu for lunch.
“Self loathing” bade them quit the great chase,
now they have become the ridiculed race.
None knows for sure who shall finally rule,
but betting on man would be that of a fool.
Kudzu creeps strongly and relentlessly on,
and mimosa’s seed is everywhere blown.
They’ve crowded away every other kind,
leaving only vine and fern leaf behind.
By kudzu, in summer, mimosa is bent.
In winter, ol’ kudzu’s energy is spent.
Then, seed of mimosa filters on through;
bringing revival of the fern leaf anew.
Humans, as animals, scurry around,
and dwindle in number as the fauna abound.
It would have been different; this comical end,
if they had “subdued”, as told by a Friend.
Gen. 1:28 “Be fruitful and multiply, replenish
the earth and subdue it”
Lionel
Remembering America when clothesline displayed wash
The yesteryear clotheslines of our country have mostly gone
Gone with the same way of old fashioned outdated panache
Panache as when women dressed decent_men tipped hats agone
The yesteryear clotheslines of our country have mostly gone
Disappeared from view like Johnny Cash's song "I Walk The Line"
Panache as when women dressed decent_men tipped hats agone
Morals, good principles have been twisted like Kudzu Vine
Disappeared from view like Johnny Cash's song "I Walk The Line"
Gone with the same way of old fashioned outdated panache
Morals, good principles have been twisted like Kudzu Vine
Remembering America when clothesline displayed wash
We were riding in the car near the Alabama line,
When I saw all over the trees a strange looking vine.
I wondered what it was, I didn’t have a clue.
I asked my mother what it was and she said, “That’s kudzu!”
We stopped at a rest area off I-59
It was surrounded by those kudzu vines.
Mom said to watch my brother Bill.
He was playing around rolling down a hill.
I was only halfway watching, we had just had a fight,
When suddenly my brother disappeared from sight.
I screamed for mom, I didn’t know what to do.
I’d just lost my little brother in the kudzu.
I didn’t go in, the vines were way too thick.
So I just called his name and poked with a stick.
I had almost given up when I heard a whine.
My brother came crawling out and he was just fine.
2005 For Worms in My Lunchbox Collection