Absent

 Dear reader, 

 

Lawn daises or "day's eyes" are native to Europe and have been used for centuries for their medicinal properties, folklore, and as popular lawn decorations.

Originally used by Romans for wounds, they have evolved from a traditional spring herb to a widely recognized often tolerated component of short-mown turf, particularly in the UK.

In the 14th century they were used in ointments for gout and fever.  Henry VIII reputedly ate them to treat stomach ulcers.

Daisies symbolize innocence and purity.  In Norse mythology they were sacred to Freya, the goddess of love and fertility.   In Celtic love they represented the spirits of children who died in infancy.

While treated as a weed in pristine, modern chemically treated lawns, they are also recognised as important early season food source for bees and as an alternative to bare soil.

 

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From Gilbert White   March 31st   1768 in Hampshire

'Black weather.  Cucumber fruit swells.   Rooks sit.  This day the dry weather has lasted a month.' 

 

From Gilbert White   March 31st 1771 in Hampshire

'The face of the earth naked to a surprising degree.  Wheat hardly to be seen, and no signs of any grass: turnips all gone, and sheep in a starving way.  All provisions rising in price. Farmers cannot sow for want of rain.'

 

From Richard Jefferies   March 3lst  1880 in Surrey

'Rain at last after weeks of the driest weather. Rain in night and early morning.' 

 

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Absent

 

In this spectral place
there is a sense of desolation,
of God not being here
that strikes icy cold.
In the dank, dark nave
lies a decomposing owl,
a cobwebbed confessional, worn rotten
and on the battered altar
a smashed wooden cross.

Long ago, did sunlight venture through
the cracked, ruby-stained glass window?

Were bread and wine transformed
into Christ's body and blood?
Did young men, expectant, marry
young women, kiss and breathe in
the churchyard's sweet summer air?
And did tears blow away unseen
in the southern mistral winds,
after a service testifying that life was here
in the absent place?

 

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Walking in woods in France I came across this church and felt very sad.

 

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With very best wishes, Patricia