I am the amethyst studded stalk of self-heal.
You have named me well – blue earth, heart-of-the-earth
healing the hurt of the world with my purple dressings.
Generosity fills every part of me.
Place these mint gray leaves upon your wounds
and they will heal and bear no scar.
Soak and steep each flowering point, each rising stalk
and hope will surge within you as your fevers subside.
I travel the world seed by seed. Strengthening your streambanks.
I adorn your neglected roadsides, clothe your fields
desolate in the blistering sun, your disturbed clearings full of debris,
I give them the green softness of life, our true inheritance.
I will walk in beauty there. Flowering humbly,
only wanting nearness to this earth, to this sweet ground.
M. L. Lyons
M. L. Lyons was awarded a Klepser fellowship in Creative Writing from the University of Washington. After interning at Copper Canyon Press, she co-edited “Raising Lilly Ledbetter: Women Poets Occupy the Workplace.”with Carolyne Wright and Eugenia Toledo. Her poetry has been nominated for the Pushcart and most recently she received a scholarship to Hedgebrook writers residency. She co-founded Pacific Wonderland Poets with Susan Swartout and has a forthcoming poetry collection.
I am the amethyst studded stalk of self-heal.