Wall Barley Arrows
Long grasses waved in clumps
On childhood field edges,
Even under hedges
And I would pull at their heads,
Feeling seeds loosen
Into my hand, then cast
Them like chaff,
Drifting on a breeze,
To settle upon paving stones and ledges…
But the bearded, green heads
Of wall barley fascinated,
On waste ground proliferated
And I would pull at the clumps,
Feeling spikelets loosen
Into my grip, then throw
Into my grip, then throw
Them like darts,
Arrowing into mum’s cardigan,
To stick in the wool but was soon berated…
Pete Ray
June 2018
Loved wall barley (didn’t know its name then) when I was a kid.
It is really HORDEUM MURINUM, which actually means ‘mouse barley’…
Always wanted that plant in the garden and my daughter bought me a similar one from near Hadrian’s Wall a couple of years ago.
The new plant is HORDEUM JUBATUM (foxtail barley) but finally and to my shock, it appears that I now have one strand of wall barley in the garden too…
Loved chucking them at mum’s cardigans or friends’ school pullovers…
Still do…
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