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Granny Medicine


by Kitty Boots


The insect bite on my ankle didn't seem to heel as fast as I thought it should. A light crater of pus was surrounded by a ring of red. Antibiotic ointment didn't help. Maybe Granny Medicine would.

Jewelweed counters the effects of Poison Ivy. I've brewed a tea of pine needles for congestion. Rosemary heated in a pot of water produces fragrant steam for allergies and sinus problems.

Slippery Elm has calmed my throat. 'Sang (ginseng) cures about anything, and if it doesn't, it's at least a comfort. 

My Grandpop used to buy Sassafras leaves and roots. We lived in that weird dimension, city, but not urban, country, but not too country. I don't know how he made the connection, long before the internet and cell phones. The doorbell would ring, I'd open the door to a wizened, old black man. He'd hand my grandfather a small plastic bag, a few dollars changed hands. Granny Medicine.


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