the ubi weed

 The Ubi Jihad

there is an insidious plant,

Gill Over the Ground,

a plant that my brother Clarence called "Ubi Weed,"

because it is so ubiquitous,

I am called to fight it, 

to weed-whack it back to its roots,

to hoe it away anywhere

it worms itself into the garden,

in To Kill a Mockingbird

one character describes a weed

as so insidious and malevolent

that it required extraordinary efforts to fight it,

that's how I feel about the "ubi weed,"

maybe something about it redeems its soul,

but right now I find its every manifestation wrong

and to be eliminated,

anywhere within my control,

I want it gone from any land I tend,

to me it corrupts the Garden.

by Henry H. Walker

June 9, ‘26