Vital Force

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Conjured with fierceness

Love

Superstitions

Mast cells enter my blood

And surface through my capillaries.

I always plan to survive which drives

my inner heat outward

Fear becomes an immune response

the way fire eats fuel and oxygen

It feeds me and I make

anti-viral support formulas

And lung tonics

While repeating wild prayers

to the Archangel Michael

In Italian

As I sew red thread through cloves of garlic.

We have always been here in this moment

and all of the moments before this

And all that are to come.

My great-grandmother did this when she first came here and longed for home

Instructing her children to wear them around their necks at school

Same as her mother told her.

It’s how we talk to viruses

and tell them they have gone far enough

It’s how we set boundaries

It’s how we know who we are

I’ve given these to all my loved ones too

My son says he probably won’t wear it

I tell him that all of his ancestors survived because of this

Plague after plague

I call that evidence based science

More importantly it leads to love

Which cures everything that fear does not

Tucking garlic in your bra tells God you want to live

It tells God you still love it here

It tells God you will not go down easy.

I will not go down easy.

I went to the grocery store despite it all

Not wanting to be an alarmist

I didn’t buy everything

I messaged my friend and told her

The only thing I can think of to stock up on is chocolate

She texted back “and coffee”

We’re waiting for our first cases here and

no one has shut the door to stop it.

The store was full of elders, as is our community

I bumped into my dear old uncle

He has a light in his eyes that always sparkles like my grandfather’s did

We were so happy to see each other

And I thought

There is no such thing as “just the elderly are being affected”

Somewhere between this is “just a cold” 

Or “it’s like the flu”

And outright panic

Something doesn’t add up

I check on cousins in countries on lock down

I trust all of the microbial organisms that live along my respiratory tract

And not the news media

I take vitamin C

And plan online classes

I love as many old people as I can

I throw my air signs at the fire

I conjure

a vital force.

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Making Teas for Daily Health and Prevention

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Coronavirus Herbal Resources and Recommendations