Bur Song
Shanna Powlus Wheeler ’04
sing the bur
like spur like starburst
sing oh
the bur’s hooks and prickles
dry-tangle glue
sing the fruit of ankle weeds
sly seed vessel
the burdock’s
grape-oval bur
with tapered spikes
the cocklebur’s
needle-stuck strawberry
and oh the many-speared
blueberries of bur grass
bur clover
sing oh the bother of burs
the bane of sheep shearers
woodland trekkers
sing the bur
stubborn traveler
sticky-thumbed
subtle hitchhiker
brute spiny wonder
Originally published in North American Review.
Forthcoming in the chapbook Lo & Behold (Finishing Line Press, 2009, www.finishinglinepress.com)
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