My Wild Garden by Meir Shalev

Author:Meir Shalev [Shalev, Meir]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2020-03-30T00:00:00+00:00

23

The poppy is a flower I like a lot, and I gather and sow its seeds in the garden every year. But before I talk about it I would like to stress to the readers, particularly those who are policemen or judges—that the poppy growing in my garden is not cultured but wild. It is not the Papaver somniferum, whose growth is a felony.

The meaning of this Latin name is “opium poppy” or “dream carrier.” It is known by this name because it contains anesthetics, and from the fluid stored in the lining of its capsules opium is produced and distilled into heroin. Incidentally, the seeds within the capsules are also used to make drugs that are no less addictive—poppy seed cake. Any reader unfamiliar with addiction to poppy seed cake will not understand what I am talking about. But those in the know will nod their heads in love and yearning, and perhaps wistfulness, because all these addicts harbor memories of a longed-for poppy seed cake. Sometimes they come across something similar, but it is never the thing itself, and the rest is history.

In short, the poppies I grow in my garden are the ones that bloom in the spring in various places around Israel, and I dare say they are known to many. It is true that the blossoming of the anemones is better promoted, enjoys aggressive public relations, and garners more attention, but to my mind the poppy fields are more beautiful. I know of several, and I visit them every spring.

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