A Single Line From Prynne
With pulse of self-heal, foremost indicate.1
Self-heal: Prunella vulgaris, the wildflower used for centuries as wound-treatment, the plant that heals itself and heals others, that grows in disturbed ground, in the wake of damage.2 The for-life as self-heal: the pulse that persists in disturbed ground, that grows after damage, that indicates—foremost indicate, first among what is shown—what remains possible. The for-life as wildflower in the wake of the glacier. The white stone’s companion in the moraine. Self-heal, indicating.
Poems 2016-2024 (2024), Snooty Tipoffs (2021), Book 2, p. 505. The five line poem at the bottom of the page ends “with pulse of self-heal, foremost indicate.” The poem at the head of the page begins “The beating heart its part declares.”
Heal-all, woundwort, heart-of-the-earth, blue curl.