Cures

For jaundice a stunned bat worn around the waist
until it dies for epilepsy glowworms in a cloth
loosely tied, laid on the stomach
for deafness a lion’s ear for melancholy an ostrich
for desire a sparrowhawk, camphor, calandria

For drunkenness a little bitch half drowned
its head rubbed against the veins
for dimness of the eyes a salve of apple leaves
for dropsy the spindle tree for migraine
aloe, myrrh, poppy oil and flour

For barrenness hazelnuts, convolvulus, water pepper
for baldness bear’s grease, ashes of wheaten straw
for the heart storksbill, nutmeg for the devil mulled copper
for vexation compress of aspen for catarrh tansy
for worms cherry seeds for fever tormentil, honey

Rowans plums sapphire emerald in wine
topaz in a ring to show poison for fleas dried earth
for hatred a doe for silence the sea for pride
alabster, oak, leopard, the wrecked sun
creeping to its hut, the night hugging and hoarding

its secret alphabets . . .

By Peter Sirr
1995