Marram grass:
Indiana Dunes National Park

I know what you’ve heard:
Build on rock, so when rain
pours down, you will not fall.

I’m a prickly enigma.
I build my tin-green home
on this sand because we are friends.

Believe it or not,
my foundation is stable.
My rhizomes cement my footer

and multiply my kind all down the line.

My architecture’s ingenious:
my reedy, inrolled leaves store water
and catch the great lake’s wind.

I am a wonder,
and welcoming, sharing the wealth
atop this dune, inviting other colonies

to join me. I am no fool:
while I bask in the sun, I hold
this whole community together.