It doesn’t ask permission.
It shows up where it’s needed: cracks, verges, wornout soil.
Calan Mai, or May Day, marks a soft threshold, the start of summer in the old calendar. A turning. Like this the clocks turned a flower of spring to summer (Blodyn y Gwanwyn). A twist of the pole.
New growth pushes through, and the dandelion comes with it, not decoration but repair. As it quietly has all spring but now blossoming everywhere.
Its deep taproot draws up calcium and memory, restoring the ground. Quietly holding its place.
Doing the work beneath the surface.
Resilience sometimes it’s sharp, rooted, necessary. Beauty in the confusion.
The petals turn.
Shadow casts a clock.
Starlit seeds scatter in a burst of beginning.
- Welsh: Dant y Llew “Lion’s tooth”
2. German: Löwenzahn “Lowen”(lion) + “Zahn” (tooth)
3. French: Dent de lion – “Lion’s tooth” “Dent” (tooth) + “Lion”
4. Spanish: Diente de león – “Lion’s tooth” “Diente” (tooth) + “León” (lion)
5. Italian: Dente di leone – “Lion’s tooth”: “Dente” (tooth) + “Leone” (lion)
6. Portuguese: Dente-de-leão – “Lion’s tooth” “Dente” (tooth) + “Leão” (lion)
Naomi Heath 