Catchweed

by Angela Hoffman


I look it up. 
It’s called catchweed, grip-grass, bedstraw, or cleavers;
a fast growing plant.
It's everywhere in my flower beds. 
Its hook-like hairs stick to my gloves. 
It's flimsy, low, and sprawling. It can’t stand on its own. 
Even its seeds have burrs.
It has tangled itself among the other delicate flowers,
bending them low, shading out the smaller plants trying to grow. 
It irritates my sensitive skin, just like the nettles.
I attempt to pull it out, but it breaks off at the base of the stem,
so the roots are still intact. I know it’ll grow back!
I’ve had lots of experience with things of this nature
that also go by other names. 


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Angela Hoffman’s poetry collections include Resurrection Lily and Olly Olly Oxen Free (Kelsay Books). She placed third in the WFOP Kay Saunders Memorial Emerging Poet in 2022. Her work is widely published. She has written a poem a day since the start of the pandemic. Angela lives in rural Wisconsin.