After moringa, also known as drumstick tree or horseradish tree
For my auntie, my father’s younger sister, with her liver disease
“Let thy food by thy medicine.”
– Hippocrates
Altruism, too, works its principles in theBody. Food as medicine: moringa leavesColored deep as harmony, darkest green.Drumstick or horseradish tree, source ofElixir with which I salve brokenness andFlaws. Grant me living essences, aGrateful heart, concentrated hope scents.Heal flesh wounds, spiritual pain,Infuse the wind with joyful memories,Juice the silent night with wishes. IKeep going to the garden, picking, praying:Let the liver regenerate, its scars erased,Make the kidneys cleanse and rejuvenate.Newness be the air the lungs savor,Order and balance between heart andPancreas. I fill the wicker basket withQuiet assurances, stems lively as light,Returning inward with my harvest. InSilence I wash the stalks and pluck:Thank you, thank you, thank you – likeUnguent for anxieties, like heartbeat.Verve rises as the blender dissolves,Water circling, transforming. We drinkExpectancy, visualizing healthier futures:Years and years of life, nature and nurture,Zests, wholeness of body, soul and mind