I am not intimidated
By your urban development
I curl my violet disk flowers
In contempt for your selfishness
The bees as one adore me
The monarchs eagerly need me
Clinging on to me, their savior
As their species fades into nothingness
The way everything would
If you had your way.
I could easily tower over you
My growth climbing to ten feet
Wouldn’t that be a change?
Me, looking down upon you.
Me, at last, holding the power
Over an unvalued life
My leaves are readily toothed
To fend off your unwanted hand
I self-seed without you
Wielding the power of thirty blooms
Just on a single flower head
Hundreds of armed flower heads
Adorn my thick stalk
This stalk sprouts from roots
Roots I have cemented into the ground
I am, as my name implies, like iron.
I won’t be uprooted
Nor ripped from the ground
I will not budge
For your mere convenience.
Poem by Emma Cecil
Emma Cecil is a nineteen year old aspiring editor/publisher with several years’ experience of working at multiple independent bookstores in her home of North Carolina. She’s currently pursuing a degree in English with a minor in creative writing at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. When not immersed in a book or writing, you can find her galloping through the woods on her quarter horse Jack or hanging out with her 45 year old ball python, Paisley.