A young girl collects garlic, rosemary,
and onions from the old woman’s garden.
Her young lungs don’t fill with air.

Oma’s wrinkled, spotted hands shake as she cuts
each piece of the medicine, making
sure not to wash pieces of healing.

Dirt is part of the recipe.

Oma heats oil in the cast iron
pot above the fire, says a prayer for the girl,
adds water from the well.

Boil, boil, boil,
Oma stirs the pot.
The medicine is almost ready.

Oma’s prune-like lips blow to cool the magic.
The gentle wind carries steam.
The medicine works.

She ladles out the broth,
sip by sip,
and the girl takes a breath.

/


Evelyn Louise May, M.F.A is a writer and editor based out of Minneapolis, MN. She has been published in Swimming with Elephants, Wingless Dreamer, Brew Your Own, Rain Taxi, Still Point Arts Quarterly. Her writing can be spotted across the internet and on T.V. Evelyn is the founder and head editor at Other Worldly Women Press. She holds a B.A. in Technical Communication from Metropolitan State University and graduated with a M.F.A in 2020 from Augsburg University with a concentration in Nonfiction Creative Writing. She is a recipient of a Minnesota State Arts Board Grant for her work editing and writing.