Ivy

Ivy When ivy chooses her partner, it's unto death The mother hen of the woods, she feeds and shelters Butterflies, hoverflies, swallow-tailed moths and bees Hedera helix of the family Araliaceae This evergreen, this spiralling woody climber With leaves ofgreen all varied white or cream Is a benefactrix, a philanthropist of the highest order Her nectar, pollen and berries, sustain when food is scarce Wood's songsters, thrushes, blackcaps, doves and blackbirds Dip in and out of her larder, fattening their bones Her sprigs were brought into homes to keep evil spirits at bay. Bacchus wore wreaths of ivy leaves round his head A cure for hangover. Poets of Rome were crowned with her Athletes of ancient Greece competed for her prize. Ivy:the emblem of fidelity, Priests presented her to the newly wed Shecan be grazed by cattle, emergency winter fodder In conservation she can preserve old buildings She regulates the temperature on the stonework. Her gifts are endless. Listen to the woodlands singing their friend's praises Without fanfare, without pomposity, she grows and gives Listen to the trees, they'll tell you She's warmer than any fur coat from a slain creature She wears both sunbeams and snow with equal grace Rain runs off her back like jibes at thick skinned MPs Listen to the trees, they learn to love her Under the white stars, the north wind, The vast acres of night, like an arranged marriage They cannot imagine living now without her Even the moon is touched by ivy's constancy