Someone told me today that I smell good! Must be that new batch of salve I received as a Gift.
I started rubbing it into every part of me. I rubbed a little extra, ever so gently, into my heart. Wow! That felt soo good. I couldn’t move for 30 whole minutes after that!
So I sat and pondered how grateful I am to the Giver, the Healer, the One Who Loves Me, the One Who Gives So Generously. I sat drenched in the Gift. Just enjoying and being.
I guess my Joy must be lingering because someone told me that I smell good today! 🍓
The backrub evening nurses used to give patients is a thing of the past. I think nurses are losing the art of / the true practice of hands on nursing. That backrub was often the very thing needed to soothe a patient into dreamland and healing rest.
Stacie, you really nailed it with "it was her hands, her touch, her care healing me."
yes! it still makes me smile. I just needed the connection, the human connection of knowing she was there. thank you for the reference. we do need that to come back. what a gift that would be to so many.
The first word every morning
Salve Calliope
Salve Euterpe
Salve Clio
To say you are seen
Salve Thalia
Salve Urania
Salve Terpsichore
You are known
Salve Erato
Salve Melpomene
Salve Polyhymnia
You are safe, you are well, you are whole.
Ah... the Muses.
Following on from Oedipus yesterday........ we are in Greek Myths mode!!
Not quite Oedipus! Or Odysseus!
But I can only see the world Salve as the Latin greeting I used in my classroom every day.
Have you been saved?
Oh yes, every day something is saving me:
birdsong, poetry, music, mutual aid.
Have you been salved?
Oh yes, daily salvation abounds:
silliness, friendship, hope.
Soulful solace shoos away scarcity,
stitches the scars from severing,
soothes the somber mood and softens reactive severity,
smooths my fretting forehead,
settling settling settling the swirling sediment into sacred clarity.
summoning the salve of sounds!
Ha, yes I may have overdone the sibilants but that’s how inspiration struck! 😂 I do love me some alliteration!
Same!!
Salve~
The balm binds us
One day at a time
Through the pain
Through the guilt
That has caused us to struggle, to suffer, to turn away
It is the medicine calling us back
To healing
To comfort
To safety
Our world needs it to apply to one another
Day by day
We see it
We hold it
We are one
We are both the healers and the ones who need healing. Yes!
What a powerful recipe! Thank you for bring these voices into this space and introducing us to inspiring works. A treasure.
Rubbing gentle salve in the wounds I made,
a hesitant kiss after biting;
offering what paltry explanation I can:
I was scared.
I'm sorry,
I'm sorry,
I'm sorry.
10 oz of tears for what could have been, 10 more for what will be
Salve
Someone told me today that I smell good! Must be that new batch of salve I received as a Gift.
I started rubbing it into every part of me. I rubbed a little extra, ever so gently, into my heart. Wow! That felt soo good. I couldn’t move for 30 whole minutes after that!
So I sat and pondered how grateful I am to the Giver, the Healer, the One Who Loves Me, the One Who Gives So Generously. I sat drenched in the Gift. Just enjoying and being.
I guess my Joy must be lingering because someone told me that I smell good today! 🍓
This is right where I am right now! The words gave me tears to add to my pot. Thank you! 🙏🏼 I’m making a glorious batch! ♥️
Let’s take a moment
To check in with our senses
Name something you can see
First on the distant horizon
Then something near at hand
And close your eyes
Letting the moisture be a salve
Against the arid air
Name the last thing you ate
The burst of flavor on buds
The way saliva enhances the taste
Sending a salve of nutrition
To your internal organs
Name the scent that unlocks
A fond memory of love
And inhale through your nostrils
Letting the present smell tickle
Your nose. The salve of stability.
Name the sounds you can hear
Of human life, or mechanic hum.
Fingers tapping on a keyboard,
High pitch birdsong, or cat purr,
Or dogs barking, perhaps a song
a salve of life all around you.
Name the things your are feeling
The seat in which you sit,
The clothing on your body,
Skin irritation and bruises,
The heartbeat in your chest,
The rise and fall of your lungs,
The catch in your throat
If tears are about to rise.
The rise of heat in your face
Or the tension of your muscles.
Slowly unclench yourself,
Place your hand upon your heart center
A salve of self compassion.
thank you for the practice of this poem!
Miles davis "bitches brew".
Loose & ghosty jazz to chew.
A lick of vinyl salve voodoo.
To sooth the crinkled mental stew.
That is sometimes
you.
Yes!
Salve
The ache in the muscles was not stopping
heartbeat sounds in my chest loud
she rubbed the salve into my arm
and took her time going up and down and around
the ache, the wound, the worry
I exhaled and laughed when I realized
it was just hand cream
not a potion made of magic
it was her hands, her touch, her care
healing me
The backrub evening nurses used to give patients is a thing of the past. I think nurses are losing the art of / the true practice of hands on nursing. That backrub was often the very thing needed to soothe a patient into dreamland and healing rest.
Stacie, you really nailed it with "it was her hands, her touch, her care healing me."
yes! it still makes me smile. I just needed the connection, the human connection of knowing she was there. thank you for the reference. we do need that to come back. what a gift that would be to so many.
Love this, Stacie. Warm and cozy. ♥️
the laugh of realization is wonderful here to the precious moment of recognition!
Salve
I remember the slight smell of mint
as she rubbed the yellow ointment on my skin
where the sharp hay stalks had cut.
Circling her wrinkled hand
around and around
massaging my smooth skin.
I remember the oily stains on the sheets
in the morning
and still the scent of mint
As the morning breeze billowed the curtains
into the large bedroom that was mine
each summer
Bringing the clang of cowbells
and the blessed smell of pigs
into the room.
That luminous place,
That small grandmother—
Salvation of my childhood.
Another Ode to a Grandmother. Beautiful.
Blessed smell of pigs. Hmmmmm.
I can feel the fresh air billowing with the curtains!
This is gorgeous and evocative, Barbara. It brings to mind memories of my great-grandmother and the scent of Watkins medicated ointment.
Pounding, grinding, mixing, slathering.
A wound in need of healing,
A salve lovingly made for soothing.
Salves, and unguents,
Ointments and creams.
Who better to apply the
balm needed?
Care worn hands
teaching the next generation.
Passing down the wisdom
from her forebearers.
Soothing, easing, comforting, healing.
Remembering, sharing comfort
through the ages.
Our poems go together!
Beautiful, ladies! So good. So soothing! 🌹🌹
They do!
salve
there is
something different
more personal even
applying salve
to a wound
for a doctor or nurse
to give a shot
is a violence act
against the body
piercing the skin
forcing in medicine
often a touch of
the virus to
attack the system
to produce
antibodies
necessary but
hardly "caring"
or for a pill
or liquid
to swallow
that huge pill
contains healing
but seems like
it would get stuck
in a throat
(don't get me started
on the taste of antibiotics)
writing a prescription
again something necessary
but hardly personal
to apply a
salve
is different
it requires
seeing the wound
tending to it
washing it
making sure it
is free from debris
letting it dry
then gently
applying the
salve
to soothe
and heal
then it
a nurse applies
the dressing
to protect the wound
and keep the
ointment in place
so it can
be medicine
in the day of
modern medicine
where it is often
dehumanized
down to
time and money
let us give thanks
a salve
that treats the
wound
but also keeps
humanity
in healing
the shape of this unrolls like a bandage
Thank you. I did not notice that.
So true!
Bird song rising over traffic noise
Waves lapping shore over radio volumes
Headphone music over airline chatter
Salve for overwhelmed ears.
I once heard someone yell at
Mockingbird imitating surrounding sounds.
The person yelled, SHUT UP
Annoying Mockingbird rantings?
Preference for human cacophony?
Mimicry speaks volumes.
Overwhelmed ears. 🙂
Salve: Healing Lotion
Sitting on the hillside in the evening
On the moss, grasses and herbs that grow
Inhaling the air heavy with scent
Of thyme, rosemary and pine.
The memory stirs of heady nights
Of dancing and being young again.
Pause, pause says the mind
You remember, the joy, the laughter
The twirling, the stamping, the kisses
All telling you – you are alive
Now you sit on the hillside in the evening
An old woman with memories
Smelling the scent of past barbeques and fires
Of being alive and making plans
Of dreams of tomorrows
Where are these dreams now?
The joints ache, the hill steep
But you still come to sit
On the moss, grasses and herbs
For the scent awakes the young girl again
And you rest in the dream
FJ8 May 2026
I love how this evokes the herbs and the fires without naming the salve. What a picture!
Salve by Nicole Boehrig
Let’s give it to everyone
for their birthday
wrapped up with a ribbon.
Let’s pour it on everything
like maple syrup.
Let’s wallow in it,
Like pigs in the mud.
May the salves of healing,
be abundantly available,
richly flowing, and
enough for everyone.
Like moss on the hillside
Soothes our aching feet, and
cool sips of water
when we’re not
sure we can go on, and
sunshine on land that’s
soaked and cold.
Let there be enough
Salve of
Kindness.
Laughter.
Joy.
Generosity.
Curious looks.
Giggles shared.
Cosy rest spots.
And vibrant music.
Good books.
Hot drinks.
Tea with friends.
Healing all around.
Healing abounds.
So many possibilities - I'll wallow in them, like a pig in the mud.
Salve
The strange-smelling ointment
with the promise of healing
The cheery greeting
with the hope of a good day
The memories of grandparents
with their wise and steady faith
believing all will be well