The Lady in the Ivy

 

Fears are educated into us, and can, if we wish, be educated out. Karl A. Menninger 

I was doing some yard work a couple of days ago and came across what, at first, appeared to be a crime scene. While I normally write in prose, I found the event inspired the flow of some poetic juices. Don’t worry; Emily Dickenson, Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, Amanda Gorman need not fear my joining their august ranks anytime soon. I do hope you’ll enjoy it, though.

O lady in the ivy, 

Just who the heck are you? 

I found you as I trimmed the vines

Your visage shocked me, true.

I had no plans to find a thing

Beyond the tangled vines

So when I came across your face

I gained deep worry lines.

At first I thought I’d found a skull

You had a bony hue 

I pulled away more leaves of green

So I’d see more of you.

The paleness of the skull I viewed –

My eyes did pierce the screen –

Of foliage that once hid your face,

‘twas mostly still unseen.

I wondered ‘bout the grizzly end

That’d put you in my care

That I should find you in my yard

Beneath that ivy lair.

The spiders scurried to and fro,

I made my way to you,

My sheers drew closer to your scalp

O’er which the ivy grew.

With tenderness I pulled the vines

Which o’er your face had grown

I hoped that I would do no harm

To you who lay alone.

I said a prayer, so quick, so fast,

Your welfare my concern

That I could free your cold remains

And who you were, discern.

I plucked away the vines and twigs,

Your face came fully clear,

I fin’ly knew what I had found,

I found your smile so dear.

Once unearthed, you were in my grasp,

A treasure I had found;

You weren’t a skull at all, my dear

Discovered ‘neath that mound.

The woman ‘neath the canopy

Of ivy, leaves, and vines, 

Was nothing but a statue’s face,

Erasing worry lines.

I brought her out from her drear tomb,

Exposed her to the sun,

And told her now she’s free at last

The ivy battle: Done!

While Halloween is a few weeks off, I hope this puts you in the mood. This was a “fun find” and sent me in a direction I don’t normally go. It was a good reminder that things aren’t always what they seem; it is good to continue digging past our fears and accepting the answers we discover in the process here in this, our valley.

Keith Axberg writes on matters concerning life and faith. Author of: Who the Blazes is Jesus? Good News for a Vulgar World (available through Amazon in Print and e-book)