Bottled Water

Frame of Shaker Printed Labels

Fifteen labels and a tape printed “I Grew at the Home of the Lebanon Shakers,” including “White Hellebore,” “Low Chamomile,” “Rhubarb Chutney,” “Parsley Root,” “Sweet Marjorum,” and “Motherwort,”,12 x 10″ frame. $270.00

As if every scrap, every leaving, is a bit of our spirit to be bought and traded. Brightly print papers, perhaps they think that a bit of our saliva stays behind in the glue—spit, that they think that carries a prayer from our sainted tongues to some fiery place that may await them. Please let children shred them into the wind. Let birds gather thin strips to line their nests. The plants we grew are gone. Perhaps they nourished some creature. these sad new people have forgotten their uses for healing. What sickness do they suffer now for which Hellebore is a cure? Can Motherwort calm a spirit carried on ethernet or stored in cybercloud? Perhaps these are faster ways to spirit than those we imaged. Or have they put spirit aside until another time and life.

KELLEY WHITE 25