GUM TRAGACANTH

It came in large white flakes

like hardened Ivory Snow

And I loved to ask the clerk

behind the counter

at Cutlers Pharmacy

for a quarter pound

of gum Tragacanth please

as though asking simply

for a jar of Vicks Vapo Rub

Inevitably

I was asked to repeat

so I got to say

that wonderful name again –

gum tragacanth

My tongue savoring its final thrust

Of course the clerk

would have to call to the pharmacist

making it so much more mysterious

I wonder did they wonder

what we used it for

And I would skip down the sidewalk

back to the shop

brandishing the small brown bag

containing a quarter of a pound of

gum tragacanth (skip)

gum tragacanth (hop)

gum tragacanth (skip)

rhythm to the steps

of a nine year old

so proud to be the only kid in town

to know the word

gum tragacanth

gum tragacanth

gum tragacanth

The dictionary says:

tragos, goat. Gum Tragacanth , a white or reddish, tasteless and odorless gum,

used in pharmacy, calico printing, etc. , any of various, esp. Asiatic, plants of the pea family, yielding this gum.

My mother had told me it came from the inside of goats ears,

this treasured secret that we mixed with water to a smooth paste and then with a denim rag, spread on the edges of a sandal strap or belt edge, pulling it firm until we had a strong hand burnished edge. My parents, among other things, were leather artists.

Gabrielle Rilleau 09/29/04