Do they, these plants, these birds, these fish, these things
We call invasive
Do they ever drop that label?
In my perfect world, the world I want to see
The sweet smell of honeysuckle would not pervade
The cool north Alabama springtime air
Birds would not gorge on the berries of privet or English ivy
Kudzu would not consume square miles of the countryside
European starlings would not descend upon my lawn en masse
But, despite my wishes, they have
They do
They will
I do my best never to propagate or propone
I educate where and when I can
I pull and chop when given the opportunity
But when I think of the injury I and my own species
Wreak upon the local environment with our daily practices
Our automobiles, our refuse, our pollution
All in the pursuit of comfort and convenience
I have to wonder if my energies
My emotional energies
Are better spent elsewhere
(Draft) Tim Gels May 2020
Yet There is Method 
Yeah, this topic of invasives is a complicated one. Thanks for the poem! Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
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It is, indeed. I don’t mean to minimize it, but it is complicated.
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There is a biological thought that we “are” all in this together, humans, too, with other invaders! You’ve written a poem for it, Tim. Wonderful and heartbreaking, too.
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Eventually, we’re going to get it figured out! Thank you, Linda.
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Your poem is an environmental “reflaction” (reflection/call to action), Tim. I like how you pose a question and then move through a reflective process.
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Thank you, Carol. This is such a difficult topic. I don’t mean to minimize it, but focusing on only one aspect of a large problem usually isn’t a good course of action. Thank you for reading, and for your comments!
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