{"version": "1.0", "type": "rich", "title": "Rosemary? You mean spicy pine needles?", "author_name": "kontextmaschine", "author_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "provider_name": "kontextmaschine", "provider_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "url": "https://kontextmaschine.com/post/632535888656809984/", "html": "

somesaypoetry:

ambrosial-sunshine:

silverjirachi:

malus-syl-vestris-deactivated20:

aeruh-deactivated20250615:

malus-syl-vestris-deactivated20:

aeruh-deactivated20250615:

malus-syl-vestris-deactivated20:

aeruh-deactivated20250615:

malus-syl-vestris-deactivated20:

aeruh-deactivated20250615:

malus-syl-vestris-deactivated20:

aeruh-deactivated20250615:

malus-syl-vestris-deactivated20:

aeruh-deactivated20250615:

malus-syl-vestris-deactivated20:

aeruh-deactivated20250615:

malus-syl-vestris-deactivated20:

aeruh-deactivated20250615:

malus-syl-vestris-deactivated20:

aeruh-deactivated20250615:

malus-syl-vestris-deactivated20:

aeruh-deactivated20250615:

Rosemary? You mean spicy pine needles?

Are you insinuating that regular pine needles aren’t spicy???

Regular pine needles are regular

Not by rosemary standards

…Have you eaten pine needles?

We’ve been friends for like four years, do you seriously have to ask if I’ve eaten pine needles or not

I mean I\u2019m pretty sure you have but I don\u2019t want to assume

Of course I’ve eaten pine needles. Various kinds. Singleleaf pinyon is weirdly the best

Are they…

spicy?

You know, I’d love to tell you but I’m pretty unclear about what marks the difference between “spice” and “strong-tasting plant that isn’t considered a spice”

I\u2019ll have to eat some pine needles myself then to find out

Ok but it only counts if they’re PINE needles and not just any old needle-like leaf off a tree

I\u2019m going to eat every needle-like leaf I see

Please Don’t Do That

Needle-Like Leaf Roulette

…I’ll accept this plan as long as you promise not to eat any yew leaves.

I can try very hard not to

Pine needles are distinguished by the presence of a sheath-like structure at the base of the leaf, almost always holding bundles of two or more leaves. Yews don’t have the sheath thing

It\u2019s time for me to go out into the woods and stare at needle leaves

Finally you can gain real insight into my average daily life

this conversation reads like two shakespeare characters who come out in the middle of the play to talk about something completely unrelated for comic relief and then are never heard from again

They\u2019re never heard from again because they ate the wrong needles

[Enter AERAH and MALUS SYL VESTRIS]

AERUH:

Rosemary, ah! Those needle-leaves are nice

So much like pine, but filled with pleasant spice

MALUS SYL VESTRIS:

So much like pine, but spiced? Do you imply

The differences between these leaves should lie

In whether they are spicy?

AERUH:

Yes, I do

The pine bears needles, and rosemary, too

But one is spiced and one is plain-

MALUS SYL VESTRIS:

Oh, no!

My friend, that is not true-

AERAH:

How would you know?

Are pine needles somethin that you have tried?

MALUS SYL VESTRIS:

You have to ask me this? I am beside

Myself. Four years! We have been friends this long

And you-

AERAH:

I did not want to judge you wrong

MALUS SYL VESTRIS:

Ah, but your judgement would not be off-base

Of course I’ve eaten pine leaves, and the taste

Can vary. I quite fancy pinyon pine-

AERAH:

But are they spicy?

MALUS SYL VESTRIS:

That I can’t define.

What separates the ‘spiced’ from merely 'strong’?

AERAH:

I shall find out, and tell you if you’re wrong

MALUS SYL VESTRIS:

You can’t eat every needle from a tree

AERAH:

I shall eat every needle-leaf i see

MALUS SYL VESTRIS:

Please don’t do that-

AERAH:

I’ll call it Leaf Roulette!

MALUS SYL VESTRIS:

But there is yew-

AERAH:

Yes, I! And I shall get

Some leaves to eat-

MALUS SYL VESTRIS:

No, yew! It is a plant!

Can you identify it?

AERAH:

Ah! I can’t.

MALUS SYL VESTRIS:

Well, if you find some needles, look beneath

If they are pine, the leaves will bear a sheath

They group the needles; two or more, they bind

The yew-tree leaf has nothing of the kind

AERAH:

I’ll spend my day now staring a tree

MALUS SYL VESTRIS:

In this, my friend, you are so much like me!

Come now, into the forest we make haste

To settle this, we must account for taste.

[Exeunt AERAH and MALUS SYL VESTRIS]

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