Tall nettles

Tall nettles

All day long we've languished in our place,
Since we like the same view from here,
Growing in clumps, sending out shoots

The earth accommodates us all, we have space.
We are not as bitter as our yellow-headed companions,
Who vanish in a whisper, no, we remain.

As the sun sways towards the day's end
The shade offers some respite
But too soon, we cry, too soon!

We have strength in numbness
Colonizing spaces that are hostile and hard
And by remaining, know our place.

.

Taken from the collection
An ear to the earth
XIII