Kudzu is a fast-growing, invasive species of vine predominantly from the South. It’s known for overtaking buildings, forests, and fields, and is notoriously impossible to kill.
In the breadbasket Cradle,
The Kudzu grows like any other crop.
A fruit of nature’s labor—-mining long past,
Here to lay in a bed of vine;
“Come,” beckons the snake knots and twisting lines,
“Come into my arms,”
To be swaddled away to the ground.
The Kudzu eats what the world cannot,
Crumbling concrete and towers—-
Tractors and trains, hunger fears no man
Only a meal too meager to feast.
If a grave of vine is not your favored misfortune,
Let you be warned of the weed;
Pull up the root, and yank it hard—-
For if you do not pick fast enough,
You, too, will be trapped in Kudzu.
Kate Northern ‘28 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. She/they can be reached at [email protected].