[pyan]

First time - let me down gently, please!

Herb Benedicta.

I found today Herb Bennet
growing in my garden, next
the slow-nodding foxgloves,
beside the cruel bramble.
Five-petalled, glowing yellow,
not where you might expect it,
a flower of the hedgerow,
and woodland places. A herb
whose root once kept the Devil from the door,
repelling all venomous beasts, and witches.
Named Herba Benedicta, the Blessed Herb,
Proof against the "flatulent wind",
the stitch and upset stomach.
There it was in my garden
thrusting up its shining head
among the lofty foxgloves.

So I took it up
and placed it in a jar of water
and there it glows, bright yellow, at me,
Telling the story
of its long-gone useful life.
Of course, it's ousted now
by synthetic pills, which tell me not of ancient ills,
And trapped in their small bottles,
Have no yellow suns to shine.