When I read that sacred datura
Datura wrightii
kótdop
thorn apple
nightshade
moon lily
was/is believed to be a magical plant
by Aztecs Chumash Zuni Jivaro Yaqui Tohono O’odham and more
taken/given as a sacrament by religious authorities
shamans sadhus yogis thuggees etc.
to induce visions
for aid in shape-shifting
or as a doorway
to the flaming world of the dead
a place you need to go to sometimes:
I want to eat some
right away
of course
My friends and family
knowing I lack wisdom
grow concerned.
“You’re not going to eat it, are you?” Wendy asks.
“There’s a reason they call it loco weed,” Eric warns.
“Scopolamine, atropine, hyoscyamine,” Dad chants,
like a witch doctor
naming the toxins of datura
Dad is not a witch doctor
but a biochemist
with an interest in and broad knowledge of plant alkaloids
so basically a witch doctor.
Sacred datura developed poison
as a defense against those
who might otherwise eat it
such as me
this is a pretty good system
it works:
I decide not to eat datura
and go back to looking for wisdom in the usual places: texts
articles on popular science
and self-help books
and Rumi
who has lots of suggestions
although he can be annoying:
feel the shoulder of the lion, he says
that’s crazy!
no better than eating datura
which can kill you
unless you happen to be
one particular insect:
hawkmoth
coevolved with sacred datura
its nocturnal pollinator
drinking its nectar
transporting its pollen
unhurt by datura’s poisons
but made drunk by them
after datura,
hawkmoths stagger,
flying in large draggy loops.
Perhaps then they are in the Flower World
the dimension that shamans go to
on the wings of datura
so I read
I’m always reading
that’s how I learned about the hawkmoths
whom I’m jealous of now
because they have datura all to themselves.
where is my mystery-containing moonglow flower?
where the petals and leaves that sustain me and only me?
Originally published at Spiral Orb and in The Sonoran Desert: A Literary Field Guide.