Medicinals

I was walking through the national mall Thinking about medicinals, how they used to grow there When the ground was a marshland Undisturbed by human hands, and I heard their voices: Sumac said we're always here Witch hazel we're always here Sassafras we're always here Bluestem grasses always here I looked about, and what I see? Medicinals grow around me, rising from the gravel Sumac and the witch hazel Come to soothe our primal sores, come to soothe our troubles Sumac said we're always here Witch hazel we're always here Sassafras we're always here Bluestem grass is always here But do you see that woman, sitting in the wheelchair? With her redskins cap on backwards What's that she's singing? As from inside a paper wrapper She sips from a bottle A new painkiller For the native people --- Medicinals - PJ Harvey