Elda Mor
Ask the leaves to tell the story of early spring
Ask the flowers if the legends of midsummer are true
Can you glimpse the fairy realm?
Ask the berries about freefall
About abundance and overflow
Birdsong and flight
Ask the moon
if the rumors of the old witch are true
Will she protect us? Haunt us?
Ask the elder mother
How do I honor you?
Ask about the medicine
Root bark berries flowers leaves
Beloved healing hedge
Ask about the mystical
The entheogenic
Anthocyanins and starlight purpling the senses
Can you breathe with the plant?
Can the plant breathe with you?
Ask the bark about boundaries
About deep breaths through thick walls
How do I honor you?
Ask the witch before you chop anything down
Is it true lightning will not strike you?
Does an old woman really emerge from a teapot?
Ask the elder if you can sit in its shadow
Ask the root if you can follow it down
Ask the winter branch
for its secrets
before the leaves return
with next spring’s story
Betsy Merbitz is a Chicago-based writer. She has been a featured performer at Homolatte and the Charm City Kitty Club, and a previous semi-finalist in the Guild Literary Complex Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Awards poetry competition. Read more.