Over the coming year we will be publishing a series of poems from Rónán’s book of poetry The Garden Wars.
Ivy Feud
There comes a time in every gardener’s life
When they have to confront the dark everygreen empire that is ; the Ivy
If you have been cutting her back every year
You probably have a well established quarrell with her
But if you’ve taken a more ‘laizes faire” attitude to your gardening duties
You’re in for a big difficult, die hard, dust up
The twin track approach is the best way
To combat the ivy’s encroachment
Ariel bombardment and ground assault
Stem by stem, root by root,
as high as you can reach
As deep as you can go and more
Hunt down all and every other attachment
Right the way under , over and above ground
In, on, over and through the walls
Up and up above the tree tops
And nestled around the underside of every bushtrunk
Be wary of underestimating your opponent in this
Territorial reclaimation you’re about to undertake
There’s a lot more to Miss Ivy than meets the eye
She has a sophisticated root structure
Sumberged and secretly infiltrated in amongst your favourite flowering shrubs
She takes civillian plants as human shields
To protect her from housekeepers with horticultural intentions
She sees herself as the queen of the crops
To be carried aloft by her minnions
And she smothers any dissent very effectively
And squeezes concessions out of captured combatents
Lady Ivy doesn’t do polite conversation, diplomacy, or trade agreements
From her point of view
Every garden is only there to be conquered
And used as a prop for the advancement of her impirical expansion
If left at it, she’ll take
Every road, wall, building, border, shrub, tree, bed, car & lawn
Under her fold of foliage
But with a couple of power tools
A steady hand and a good babysitter
You can take the time needed
To reduce her influence on your doorstep
To that of a distant cousin
Or an occaisional visitor
If she insists on overstaying her welcome
As she will
You’ll have to resort to violence
To restore the preselected higherarchy
That you had in your battle field
Root & branch
Zero tolerence is called for
She doesn’t take to kindly to being cut back either
She’ll cover you in dust and insects
Throw tantrums like a spoilt child
And griplock every limb
Of every turn in her every branch before she lets go
Your hands will rip pulling her off the wall
You’ll fall on your arse when you prise her loose
Quite often
Knee grazes, jeans rips, dirt in your eyes, dirt in your nose, dirt in your skirt
Dirt down the back off your pants and shirt
And you’ll have killed, crippled & maimed hundreds of other innocents plants
On your rip , pull, clip, cut, chop, saw, scramble & bash way clear of the carnage
But in the end
You’ll have the greatest gift of all
Light
And a clear wall.
Copyright – Rónán Ó Snodaigh – Musician, Gardener & Poet
Born in Dublin on first day of 1970, Ronán is a prolific musician, writer and performer in both Irish and English. A founding member of world renowned trad/fusion band Kíla, Rónán is recognized as one of Ireland’s best and most innovative bodhrán players and percussionists and a highly original singer songwriter. He has been described by John Walsh (Hot Press) as ‘the living embodiment of Turlough O Carolan and Bob Marley’, and by a fan as ‘…The Jimi Hendrix of Bodhrán’
The Garden Wars is his first full volume of poetry.
To purchase a hard copy please click here: The Garden Wars
More information: Sarah Glennane – sarahglennane@gmail.com or call 086 4021179
