the thorn path
she made her feathered nest in the tangled boughs of oak, ash, thorn and found mushroom echoes of moonbeams she delved for essence among the hawthorn roots and brought woven certainty to light she entered the ring where faeries are dancing and knew the wheel’s ceaseless turning she sought crooked paths into the woods shunning the straight and sunny and this has made all the difference she will not return to the mundane world but you may hear her singing
Hawthorn Day
May 4th is Hawthorn Day. This is the traditional day to tie clooties on hawthorn boughs over magical springs. It’s one of the days when villages compete to make the most astonishingly elaborate display of greenery and white flowers. It’s the Feast of Bona Dea when we re-member the earth’s bounty and give thanks to the Producers. And it’s a perfect day to plant a garden.
The dandelions are blooming, so I will be putting in the potatoes. I have a pile of young trees that are going into the jungle to gradually replace the mess with something more helpful and healthy. The nightshades are all germinated, and it is time to start thinning out the pots. The weather might finally be sufficiently congenial to plant early food-crops in the exposed beds, while the arugula, lettuces and radishes in the cold-frame might soon be edible. I may make a jaunt up to the well in the woods to ask for blessings on my garden. And I will certainly be enjoying the sunshine and first warmth of the year.
May the 4th be with you!
©Elizabeth Anker 2024
By My Solitary Hearth 
I love May the 4th be with you! I hope your garden will indeed be blessed during the spring and summer growing season. I think our patch of lawn has been mown for the last time until the end of winter.
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