A Wilderness Love Story

Hidden deep in wilderness

Where people seldom go,

Beneath some scraggly junipers,

There's a tale untold.

 

He was just an empty shell,

A long abandoned shack.

In weathered skin, he’d given up

To nature’s brutal wrath.

 

Rain and wind struck ruthlessly,

The sun beat on his head.

Flickers hammered at his roof,

Inside the termites fed.

 

She observed his suffering,

Heard him struggle in the wind.

So from across a weedy yard,

She gently reached for him.

 

Poison Ivy was her name,

Salvation she would be.

He needed just a touch of hope

And, frankly, so did she.

 

Year by year and inch by inch,

Along a picket fence,

He watched as she drew ever near,

And longing grew intense.

 

Then one day she brushed his skin,

His anguish she would soothe.

Such tenderness, he’d never felt

And more in love they grew.

 

They became inseparable. 

For them a new world bloomed — 

Where trees were greener, birdsong pure,

And air sweetly perfumed.

 

More cheerful now, the sunny glow 

Of bluer skies above.

Her leaves would keep intruders out

And gently shield their love.

 

Throughout the years, she wrapped herself

Around him, good and snug.

He felt at peace in her embrace — 

Together they were one.

 

Near some scraggly junipers

Entwined eternally,

There stands, content, a rustic shack

In love with his ivy.