My mom was always planting ivy
In the valleys of our yard.
She said it was to keep the rain
From washing the earth away.
To keep it all anchored down.
She hoped it would grow over the years
Swallowing the whole house.
But she tried to tie the wrong things.
Because the earth never washed away,
The house never floated off.
If I had known
I would have told her
To wrap those vines around herself.