“Under the Black Alder”

Michelle Lynch created “Under the Black Alder” from the Complete Herbal by Nicholas Culpeper (1653). Please click here to read.

About the poem and the process of composing it, Michelle Lynch writes:

This poem was constructed from the Black Alder section of Culpeper’s Complete Herbal. My process included copying out that section and then reading slowly for words to keep and words to erase. I kept hearing music and seeing a “merry month of May” scenario in my mind. I instantly vibed to the feminine energy popping from this section, so stayed true to that direction when finding the poem within.