salve for worn hands

haddon common

06 Apr 2025 — 1 min read

beeswax cooling, a closeup of dark gold becoming blonde as it sets, hexagonal shapes taking form in the patterns of cooling: the look of breaths escaping on a cold day, or wind moving on water, the long branched hands of trees reaching for each other, gesturing towards connection.

coming through winter into spring, and spring into summer, i return to what i know: infuse oils, melt wax, mix well, pour into vessels, share.

today at the pandora park fieldhouse, where i am currently a space sharer and artist in residence, i open the windows in the rain, boil the kettle for tea, and process medicines from last season.

yarrow and calendula flowers, picked from abundance in a garden i tended last year, have been dried and then added into castor, jojoba oils and vitamin E oils and left to infuse for a month. 30oz oils.

beeswax, from hives i tended last season, collected scrapings and cappings from throughout the long process of the year, rendered through cycles of melt and filter, is melted in a double boiler set up. 6oz beeswax.

when the beeswax is melted, the filtered oils are added in. cool oils meet hot wax and take form briefly before re-melting.

golden liquid is poured into vessels ready to be shared (small mason jars, assortments of old honey bottles and saved containers, as you like).

change, like a tide

listening (and re-listening) to change from big thief: i sing it to myself often, in change and when reflecting on change. especially the first verse: change, like the wind / like the water, like skin / change, like the sky / like the leaves, like a butterfly. and i add to it: change,

a soothed bruise

is there a metaphor in bruising, in making a salve - with petals gathered, oils infused and wax rendered - applied tenderly to skin bruised, that might help me learn about rupture and repair, that might soothe towards healing an old heart wound? is there a connection i might weave

a yarrow pillow

i sit and write by my window, and look up often to the twin berry in the garden i tend, yellow bell flowers often visited. a jar of marbles is close-by because my dad told me no one plays with marbles anymore, but my friend and i have small collections

dipp day

invitation to join for beeswax mini candle dipping: Sunday May 25th 2-4pm by drop in to make a mini-candle, hand dipped by you, beeswax and wick provided. 🌞🌱🌻🐝 At the pandora park fieldhouse 2325 franklin Street.

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change, like a tide

a soothed bruise

a yarrow pillow

dipp day