Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: busy

Poem: "A Touch of Comfort"

This poem is the freebie for today's bonus fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from [personal profile] cadenzamuse. It belongs to the series Fiorenza the Wisewoman. This is a sequel to "Pearls and Posies," and will make more sense if you've read that first.


"A Touch of Comfort"


Twice a week, Abelie came into the village:
once to study with Sofia, the old deaf woman
who was teaching hand-talk, and once
to study herbs with Fiorenza while
Abelie's sister Margherita worked with Don Candido.

It was hard on the girls
to have lost their voices so young,
fey blessing gone awry so that
Abelie spoke only in flowers
while Margherita murmured in jewels.

There was nothing to be done for it,
only learn to work around it,
and so Fiorenza set aside time
every week to help Abelie learn the herbs
and their uses and their meanings.

"Rosemary: tonic and astringent,"
Fiorenza said. "It means remembrance."
"Lavender: purification and relaxation.
It means devotion." She pointed out
the different beds with their subtly different plants.
"This is Italian lavender; this is Spanish lavender."

Abelie pointed to another bed of soft silvery leaves
and spoke a sphere of scarlet sycamore blossoms,
symbol of curiosity, as she looked to Fiorenza.

The wisewoman smiled at her. "This is lamb's ear,"
Fiorenza explained. "It speaks of support.
It has no medicinal applications, though.
I grow it because it's pretty and fuzzy.
Not everything needs to have a practical use."
She stroked one finger along a velvety leaf.
"Sometimes people just need a touch of comfort."

Abelie replied with a straw flower for agreement,
then pointed to the basket slung over her elbow.
"Go ahead and dig one up," Fiorenza said.

So Abelie carefully transplanted a lamb's ear
into the little corner garden outlined in bricks that
the wisewoman had given her to tend on her own.
It went between the chamomile (energy in adversity)
and the verbena (you have my confidence)
as a silent reminder that not everything
had to be useful and nobody had to be perfect.

Tags: cyberfunded creativity, ethnic studies, fantasy, fishbowl, gardening, history, linguistics, poem, poetry, reading, writing
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  • 4 comments

Deleted comment

ysabetwordsmith

Yes...

ysabetwordsmith

January 23 2013, 22:03:57 UTC 8 years ago

It's a very popular plant for children's gardens or tactile arrangements.
kyleri

kyleri

February 1 2013, 02:49:03 UTC 8 years ago

If you're thinking mullein it's actually very useful for coughs and asthma -- it's one of the reasons my asthma is as not-crappy as it is.
ysabetwordsmith

No ...

ysabetwordsmith

February 1 2013, 02:51:09 UTC 8 years ago

Mullein and lamb's ear are different plants, although they are sometimes confused. It was hard to find a plant with NO medicinal applications!
kyleri

Re: No ...

kyleri

February 1 2013, 03:01:54 UTC 8 years ago

Hee! Okay. Both names are used for the same plant in the western US, which is where I got to know it; I know mullein is originally old-world but I'm not shocked the nickname varies. And yes, I'll bet it was tough to find something to use there!