Bittersweet

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These berry-laden vines are called oriental bittersweet–aptly named for this aggressive plant. Sweet because indeed, they are beautiful; but their introduction to the Americas has nearly wiped out American bittersweet and threatens trees because the vines are adept girdlers. They squeeze trunks as trees grow, sometimes killing the tree.

I should remove them from my hedgerows, but I haven’t the energy. Look at this link for the challenges involved. My lack of intervention probably falls under the category of deferred maintenance, and has led to a sense of plaintiveness, perhaps, and to these drafts of tanka poems on this late November day.

~

the leafless hedgerow

studded with red berries

each wintry morning

my walk’s accompanied

by bittersweet

~

how dull gold husks

open to red fruit

how such slender vines

grow to strangle trees

–bittersweet

~

an old cliché

take the bitter with the sweet

older now myself

I try balancing

life’s flavors