Dispatch 001: It Begins With Death

Introducing MARIGOLD Garden Club

Someone clipped me at dawn.

Didn’t say a word.
Just reached in and snipped me mid-stretch.

Those same familiar hands laid me in a basket
beside white lilies
and a photograph
that curled at the edges.

The basket smelled of sweetgrass.
It rocked gently
as we entered the house.

Inside, people in white filled the room.
Some had water in their eyes.

Then I saw him.
The one they were gathering for.

They placed me by his crown—
the highest point of the body.

I listened for a heartbeat.
Silence.

At sunset, they wrapped him in cloth,
and carried us both into the Earth.

One by one,
my petals browned and disappeared into the soil.

My long, sturdy stem
softened and
decomposed.

I waited.

Until I cracked.

In the dark,
unsure,
I whispered,
which way is up?

Then—

I heard his laugh.

I stretched toward the sound of joy,
split my seed,
and broke new ground.

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✺ Welcome to the Garden

This is a space for growers, dreamers, and escape artists. We gather here to explore the physical, spiritual, and creative medicine of plants. To root ourselves in Black agrarian traditions while dreaming of what’s next.

Each season, we walk with a set of plants and elemental guides that connect us to deeper wisdom.

This summer, we’re working with fire.

In African cosmologies, fire is more than destruction. It’s purification. Raw. Creative. Energy. Fire clears the field and prepares the ground for something new to emerge.

Our plant guides for the season are no strangers to endings. These messengers have journeyed across oceans, held space on altars, and shown many the way home.

We’ll introduce our first plant guide soon. In the meantime, ask yourself:

• What do I need to burn off?

• What truth wants to come through me?

• What kind of nourishment does my future self need right now?

• What in me is ready to decompose?

• What parts of me feel called to slow down and listen this summer?

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Take what you need. Share what you know.

See you in the garden.

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