did
you
know
that when a leaf of poison ivy
opens
its tendrils
to the sky,
soft green chlorophyll
like fangs of
motionless demons
bite into our star
the very heart of energy
if only I were photosynthetic
I would be the queen
of queens
I would dig in
to the pulse of an omnipresent
swollen
vein
I would suck out the source
of what
vicious spiders
and
dare I
say
humans
catch
secondhand
that's why poison ivy
or the grass
on which we tread
are far more powerful succubi
than anything
that can say
look here,
I am the queen of queens
I shall overcome
I shall overcome
I shall overcome
Emma Lovelace