wild bird's nest
waving carrot weed
bumbershoot of bishops,
queens' tiara buds dressed
pink to herald countless
clusters white that wreathe
a bloom jeweled so dark,
now crowned to slyly beckon,
tempt the busy buzzing bees
with sugared nectar nips nestled
sweetly deep in lacy parasol
sun shades that sway beneath
the sizzling summer heat till
clusters white go brown, curl
inward, rolled, snapped shut,
to be set free like tiny
seed umbrellas tumbling,
twirling topsy turvy upon
the winds of fall
Queen Anne’s lace earned its common name from a legend that tells of Queen Anne of England (1665-1714) pricking her finger and a drop of blood landed on white lace she was sewing. Belonging to the carrot family, Queen Anne’s lace is a biennial that is also known as wild carrot. Early Europeans cultivated Queen Anne’s lace, and the Romans ate it as a vegetable. American colonists boiled the taproots, sometimes in wine as a treat. Interestingly, Queen Anne’s lace is high in sugar (second only to the beet among root vegetables) and sometimes it was used among the Irish, Hindus and Jews to sweeten puddings and other foods. http://www.ediblewildfood.com/queen-annes-lace.aspx
I retired from public school teaching after happily spending twenty eight years playing in Kindergarten. Now I fill my days watching cat antics, taking endless...
