—Don’t
—Don’t scratch!
It’ll spread. —No, it won’t.
—If scratching doesn’t spread it,
Then why can’t I scratch? It itches!
—Don’t scratch! Scratching leaves scars.
—Don’t say “leaves” again. I hate them.
They started this mess! —Don’t scratch!
You don’t have it as bad as others.
—Well, I have it bad enough.
A-a-a-a-a-ah!! Why me?
Is there any relief?
—Don’t scratch!
Don’t scra—
Don’t—
Written 1992, revised 2002
© 2017 Angela Umphers Rueger – All Rights Reserved
Photo courtesy of Pixabay
The original version of this poem came out of months of agony over a poison ivy rash that would not go away. It covered nearly every part of my body and affected my entire life. It was probably the worst experience I had ever had to that point. Needless to say, I’m a lot more careful around poison ivy now!
The Abundant Heart 
I’ve never had poison ivy, but I pray I never will…especially after reading this poem. So clever and creative! 🙂
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That was a horrible experience. It took more than a month to heal, and two doses of steroids. I am much more careful, but I’ve gotten it again since then, twice.
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Oh my!
You must hike or travel in the woods a lot? I remember learning about poison ivy and the like in kindergarten, but not much of what I learned stayed with me. Not every how the leaves look. 😦
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I do hike a lot, but all my experience with poison ivy is from trying to clear it out of my yard. 😦
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Oh my! That’s crazy! D:
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