Sitting here, still contemplating whether
I should use the bottle of poison
that I bought to kill the poison ivy
that is slowly, inexorably, creeping up
the siding of the house,
into the flower beds,
and slinking towards the back slider.
I know that the poison will kill
the plants. I also know, after,
it will seep down into the sand,
to the water table, finally down
over two-hundred feet, to where
well-point rests, to be drawn up
by the well pump and pour itself
out of my tap.
The road commission plans
on spraying the ditches
with herbicide in August.
The ditch poison ivy is a pit
of vipers that sprays its
unique DNA’ed urushiol
each time the riding lawn
mower grinds its escapees
in passing. Two years ago,
I put up no-spray signs
given by the commission.
Not this year.
Here I sit, in earthly paradise,
admitting defeat to ancient
anathemic cousin to
cosmos, arnica, sedum, rose,
tomato, pepper, oak, apple,
pear, witch hazel, willing
to poison myself
for the comfort of not
being covered
with oozing rash.
Sanaa (aka adashofsunny) is today’s host of dVerse’ Poetics. Sanaa says:
For Today’s Poetics, I want you all to write in the style of Amber Rose Tamblyn and create visuals of your own. Pour out the first thought, the first thing that comes to mind and let the words take you forward
Tao-Talk 
It is a war that is justified.
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Well . . . first I have to tell you that my husband worked for years and years dealing with water quality issues. In fact, he was instrumental in writing the clean water bill act. For many years he dealt with pesticides in Iowa affecting ground water. So….my reading is colored by that. I do understand the conundrum and you spell it out well. Also, another “tie” to your post here for me is that I have this exact gargoyle, minus the plant and yellow pollen?? sitting on top of our book case! So just how close am I to this post??? :) I enjoyed reading it a lot! Topical benadryl helps with itching rashes…I know personally! Love the title by the way….may you solve the situation, somehow.
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Thanks for reading, Lillian, and it is good to know you’re familiar with water quality issues. The gargoyle has a coating (plastic?) on it that has worn off after being outside for so many years. I can say I’m very familiar with methods of treating the itching rashes from poison ivy. My allergy to it means that topical benadryl doesn’t touch it. Staying away from it and using prescription steroid cream are the only things that work. One of the few uses I have for physicians are their ability to write prescriptions for steroid cream lol
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That is a difficult situation. And I guess it is impossible to simple pull out.
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I’d need an isolation suit (which isn’t expensive per my older son) to wear while doing it. With poison ivy, if you pull it out by its extensive underground root system, any piece you miss will come back vigorously. I’ve let it go so long and there is so much of it, it would probably take weeks to do it and I’m not that hepped up. Plus, every time you take the suit off you’d have to throw it away as if your skin touches the outside, breakout. You can’t burn it either as the fumes are breathed into your lungs and can cause a serious issue.
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Ugh. A most unpleasant issue. Jesus.
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Well if you don’t want to kill poison ivy you could always plant jewel weed. My neighbor actually just made jewel weed soap to use if she gets poison ivy!
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There we go, a creative solution! Thanks, Christine.
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This is absolutely stellar writing, Lisa! It is a difficult situation for sure. Getting rid of poison ivy is of utmost importance. You can create a saline solution by mixing three pounds of salt, a gallon of water, and a quarter-cup of dish soap.
Fill a spray bottle with your homemade herbicide and apply it directly to the poison ivy leaves. Do so on a clear day, allowing the salt the opportunity to do its job before rain washes it away.
Thank you so much for writing to the prompt! 💖💖
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Sanaa, thanks for the recipe. It’s worth a try and so much better than the stuff I bought out of desperation.
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Poison and other ivies are a pain. I guess you’re between a rock and a hard place here. Though I guess I’d rather live with annoying ivies than poison ivy killer in my tab water. Perhaps the only advantage of dying of the bloody poison is you no longer would have to worry about the annoying ivies – and the mortgage!😆
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OMG that’s hilarious, Christian. I just read a harmless recipe from Sanaa and will give it a try.
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A great poem, Lisa. I believe one has to weigh the consequences and learn to handle the poison with great care. Sometimes it is necessary, just like chemo in the body fights cancer.
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Thank you, Dwight. I talked with Jules and she suggested cutting the vines and painting the cut with the poison, which minimizes the amount. I plan on trying Sanaa’s recipe first.
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You are welcome. Keeping nature under control is about as hard as raising children! :>)
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Dwight, honestly, it has me contemplating moving back to the city. I need to call a landscaping company to get quote from them to get rid of this mess.
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Try boric acid at the roots. Just don’t get it in the yard or you will have bald spots.
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I don’t want to kill the things around it but may have no choice :(
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Borax works for ants. That is how I realized it would kill the grass also.
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Dwight I know about Borax and think it is the active ingredient in Terro. I have a whole box of that I use sometimes for laundry. Time for an experiment :)
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I hope it works for you. It is an organic product.
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Guess what I did this afternoon when I got back from dream group? :) Boraxed those ………. will keep you posted!
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Good for you!
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I said it wrong in my first comment about this. It is not boric acid, but borax. Maybe the same thing. I have heard of it being mixed with water and used as a spray also. Check You Tube for clips.
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I just dusted the whole area behind the house where that little gremlin/gargoyle sits and by the slider. I really hope this does the trick. If it does, I’ll dose the rest of the yard with it.
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It might take a week or more to take effect!
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Thanks again for your help, Dwight. Will be watching it and keep everyone posted.
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Good poem Lisa. I can relate.
We have some on our sidewalk leading to our home…this week Bailey and I are getting gloves and going after it manually…but may resort to poison if that doesn’t work.
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Max, please wear long sleeves and long pants also, and wash them in HOT water after immediately throwing them in the washer when you are done. Use disposable gloves if possible and toss them afterwards. One thing you probably already know about poison ivy is if you leave any of the root in the ground it will come back much more vigorously. It’s a pernicious and outright evil plant. It kills trees and has been trying to kill my old willows out front for years. I learned during an episode of Elementary just last night that each plant’s u-oil has distinct dna. If that doesn’t give you the creeps I don’t know what will!
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Thanks Lisa….I didn’t know all of that but we want to straighten up…Jennifer was going to do that before she left…Oh…she should be coming back Monday!
Turns out that the place where her mom stays…cannot have guest over 2 weeks unless they are a registered nurse….they will have to hire one when she gets it done.
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That is really messed up, not allowing a child to stay with their parent to recover from surgery. Good for you and Bailey, not so good for Jen’s mom. Nobody can care for a parent like a family member. Nurses don’t usually have the special TLC of a family member.
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I know…they would charge her 50 dollars a day. If she would have been operated on…I don’t know i that would have changed anything.
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that poison ivy doesnt sound good to be dealing with at all!
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if ever a plant was evil, it is poison ivy
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Next time your son (the one who said a protective suit isn’t expensive) comes to visit, get him to dig it up and burn it. You could burn the roots off too with one of those hand held things like a mini flame-thrower. We used salt to kill off the stumps of a few acacia trees we had to chop down because they were too close to the house. It worked on the stumps, but the furthest roots are still throwing up shoots. Poison ivy sounds like horrible stuff but pouring poison anywhere is a bad idea. Best of luck!
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Jane, with poison ivy you can’t burn it because it puts the poison into the air that if breathed in will cause serious respiratory issues. The roots of it are under large areas of leaves, sticks, and other litter, behind trees and shrubs and other obstructions. It is probably a job I will have to pay a landscape company to come in and take care of. Once they clear it out, I can keep it out. Sanaa’s recipe has a big salt component to it. Thanks for the tips and well-wishing.
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I didn’t realise that! Sounds as though it ought to be eradicated, like malarial swamps…
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You can also get the poison ivy rash from the smoke if you burn it.
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I’m struggling to find ONE good thing about poison ivy. I think it crawled up out of hell to give us going there a taste of what’s to come.
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How funny!
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:)
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Yeah… it’s a serious, serious problem… We had poison ivy in our backyard when I was growing up as a kid, but it was only in the far, far back…
~David
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You know that saying “a stitch in time saves 9”? It’s my fault for letting it go this long.
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👍🏻
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A very hard decision
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Yes it is.
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🤗
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Great writing that read to me like a horror story! I’m highly allergic to poison ivy too and from clearing English Ivy from my last house I discovered I am also allergic to that too! I hope you find a less harmful solution!
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It *is* a horror story, and I know if you’re allergic you know it is. When my dog, Chauncey was alive, we used to go walking out back and I didn’t realize he was running through it, then he’d jump on the couch where I sat. I kept breaking out in rashes and went through some extremely horrible effort in getting it out of the house, going to the doctor for treatment, etc. I fear it like I fear little else.
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That’s horrible! So sorry. I hope youre able to get rid of it forever!
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Me too!
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Lisa, this is excellent writing! I just read your comments about poison ivy DNA. 😱 That is positively terrifying! This was one reason when we moved back to the Midwest, why I wanted to be in the city. I have so many allergies and that is one thing I wouldn’t be able to deal with. I know when I was a kid, my stepmother used boiling water to kill the roots. That might work along with Saana’s salt/soap solution. I hope you get this under control.
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Thanks, Colleen. Glad you know what I’m talking about with it, but sorry you’ve interacted with the beastly stuff. I will be getting it under control one way or another.
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I hope you do a farewell to the wicked poison ivy poem, Lisa. 😝
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love how you walk us through your mind contemplating this dilemma, hope things work out – a great piece Lisa 🙌
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Ange, thanks very much. It’s a good look inside this noggin.
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One summer when I was 18 I worked on my father’s rural New Age park in Pennsylvania. A devotee then of Erce All Mother, I worked only in jeans & sneakers pulling long ropes of poison ivy off my father’s barn, believing in mythic medicine to keep me safe. The itchy blisters covered my entire trunk. So much for faith not grounded on Earth … Your engagement belies the same contradiction over what real colors embue and do.
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I’m cringing and scratching my skin just thinking about it covering my entire trunk. Belated condolences. Think and do are often chasms apart when it comes to real, you’re right.
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the dilemma of trading one poison for another!
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Exactly. I’m going to try the non toxic to environment ones first and see if I can make leeway with it.
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Paradise definitely in trouble … you tell us so in perfect poetry. Beautifully constructed, Ms. Lisa.
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Helen, thank you so much, my dear.
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We are lucky enough not to have Poison Ivy in England but with all the talk of it and tips, we shouldn’t lose sight of what a great poem this is, and once again, how you weave the environment into your poetry Lisa…
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I’m trying Borax on a section in the back, per Dwight’s suggestion (it takes care of dastardly ants also.) Thank you for the kind words on the poem.
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Ah Lisa a tour deforce, I especially love that play on poison.
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Thank you very much, Paul.
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Very welcome Lisa :)
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