Ode to Weeds Like Lies

Even weeds have ugly flowers with seeds to disseminate,

Even weeds invade and degrade desirable plant communities,

Even harmful weeds run wild like thistles, spurges, ragworts,

And toxic hogweeds that burn, blister and scar human touch.

Or the notorious knapweed … hairy stems, blossom blotches,

Soon a tangled bristled mess of tumbleweeds blowing anywhere,

Even if so desolate and if guilty, proliferating seeds like lies,

Impacting society, impeding democratic habitat and truths.

So many weeds trumping country side, unresistant,

Dormant for decades, defenceless, except with glyphosate

Like official testimonies to unearth facts as truths, to pull out lies.

Weeds never make fake rashes; but, fake lies make tyranny

Like ugly painful scars that root into the garden of justice

Choking equality of laws and destroying the constitutional harvest.

Annemarie Berukoff