The Rogation Flower

The Rogation Flower (Polygala vulgaris)

 

Amongst the grassy places,

Between the thrusting blades,

A blue as bluebell flower

Shakes its head and serenades

The coming of Rogation,

When we humbly supplicate

For help with crops and husbandry

From hedge to fence to gate.

 

We stand within the churchyard

And we pray to God on high,

Whilst, at our feet, the milkwort

Echoes glory from the sky.

As we wait for Ascension,

It waits only for to be

As God alone created,

As he fashioned you, and me.

 

Tis said this tiny flower,

Used millennia ago,

In China, soothed pneumonia

And other cause of woe.

And even nursing mothers

Took infusions of its root,

To boost their milk production;

Though effectiveness was moot.

 

So the Rogation Flower,

Blooming from the month of May,

Has a special place in history,

Perhaps forgot today.

As man still follows seasons,

And the tides of Nature flow,

Still, side by side, the milkworts,

In their legions quietly grow.

 

©Ruth Twyman Lockyer May 2014

ruthtwyman@hotmail.com