An Enchanted Place

a droplet of blood fallen

on delicate lace, beauty and grace

heightened by sacrificial offerings, freely

given, as harvest spirits bask in golden light

and transformation is embraced in

realisation of earth’s fertility

The little red, jewel-like petal at the heart of Wild Carrot flowers always fascinates me. Another name of the plant is Queen Anne’s Lace, and legend says that it is so-called because Queen Anne pricked her finger on her needle and the red flower is where she bled upon the lace.

I wrote today’s poem with this in mind, knowing that I’d taken pictures of Wild Carrot while I had a morning walk in the meadow for day 61 of 365 Days Wild – the eve of Lammas, the festival of the harvest of the first fruit. It’s just typical that these are probably the only pictures of the plant that I’ve ever taken that don’t actually show a red central petal!

To finish off, here’s a picture of Wild Carrot that I took a few weeks ago that does show the red petal: