Folded Word
Exploring the world, one voice at a time.
Fireweed
You never notice it until the middle of summer, when the magenta flower-spikes suddenly crowd every roadside and wasteland…once they have outgrown grass and nettles, and stand tall above the lesser whites and yellows of daisies, dandelions, clovers.
In Britain we call it rosebay willow herb — surprisingly ponderous for such a common plant. Its transition passes more rapidly than its name. The purple flowers curl off into whitening seed-down. The leaves brown and wrinkle early, falling off gradually to leave long, bare stems, woody-looking but pithy-dry inside. They’re plentiful to gather, light to carry, quick to burn. In other parts of the world, folks call it fireweed : Nature’s best kindling for winter fires.
©2019 by Fiona Jones
A response to Folded Field Notes : Transition
Fiona Jones is a Regular Contributor to Folded Word. She is a part-time teacher, a parent and a spare-time writer living in Scotland. She has taught her children how to make presents from mud, pillows from bulrushes and puddings from wild apples and berries: her children are teaching her about tablets and smartphones. Fiona has fiction published or upcoming on Buckshot Magazine, Silver Pen, Longshot Island and various others. Her nonfiction has appeared on Mothers Always Write and Mum Life Stories. Fiona tweets as https://twitter.com/FiiJ20, links in as https://www.linkedin.com/in/fiona-jones-0a718518/detail/recent-activity/ and books her face as https://www.facebook.com/FiiJ20/.
2 Comments on “Fireweed”
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Wonderful and interesting! I have a friend in Alaska that makes honey and syrup out of fireweed. :).
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I might try and google a recipe for that.
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