Bearing witness to mild midwinter warmth
Sun’s first cross of mustard shines on margins of forest and field.
Coincidence is not a thing. A wise lady I knew better in times past told me all is linked. And all is so.
Wandering on the margin of Forest and field, I saw bright yellow cheerfulness in the low winter sun. Wintercress, the first of foraged edibles, shone forth. Young leaves, peppery, widespread, not common, that once gave salve ‘gainst scurvy and throat sore.
On the rise, the church on the hook, Saint Barbara.
This plant is known as barbarakruid or herbe de Sainte-Barbe, and her churches are commonly found near places of dangerous labour, like quarries, forests and road-making.
Toponymy, hagiography and botany, colluding.