casting down its smell of tombs.
Flowers the colour of a shroud
must not be brought indoors.
Mother fears its power
and forbids it in the house.
To bring it in invites Death.
Disease, decay, defeat.
Do not pick the blooms.
Their beauty is a trap
you can't escape.
My mother believed that bringing the flowers of hawthorn into the house would bring about a death in the family. I'm not sure I believe it - but I don't risk it.
