Jewelweed

Jewelweed: the oxymoron that grows in great heaps down by the stream. On puppy walks and during dam construction we admire them, golden and orange on their bushes. Apparently, if you have poison ivy, rubbing some jewelweed on it will cure the itch. I always wish I had poison ivy, or at least an itch to try it on. I pluck some jewelweed, and smear them on an imagined itch. I wait. It’s less exciting than I thought it’d be. I’ll try again another day, when I have poison ivy. I walk back home, my arm streaked with flower innards.