- Lemon balm is for forgiveness.

Pull up from the root, steep in boiling water, add locust wings, salt, the dried bones of hummingbirds.

Drink when you feel ready.

Drink, even if you do not.

"How to Break a Curse" by Danielle Boodoo-Fortune is about trying to break a curse, how to do it.

Usually if you are cursed, there is a reason why.

(laughs) So it's a lot of self-reflection, trying to figure out who and why it happened, and then trying to heal yourself of that wound, but then also trying to heal the other person of that wound.

Maybe that's self-reflection, apologizing, gestures.

But at the end of the poem, there's also this sense of revenge where it's saying, "This is a sharpened blade.

Keep it for safe keeping.

Use it only when you have to."

And I think there's something really beautiful about that because there are certain times where you are cursed, but it was not done because it was warranted.

Sometimes revenge is necessary.

Sometimes you have to be the karma to set it in motion.

Help me!

How to break a curse by Danielle Boodoo-Fortune.

Lemon balm is for forgiveness.

Pull up from the root, steep in boiling water, add a locust wings, salt, the dried bones of hummingbirds.

Drink when you feel ready.

Drink even if you do not.

Pepper seeds are for courage.

Sprinkle them on your tongue.

Sprinkle in the doorway and along the window sill.

Mix pepper and water to a thick paste.

Spackle the cracks in the concrete.

Anoint the part in your hair.

You need as much courage as you can get.

Water is for healing.

Leave a jar open beneath the full moon.

Let it rest.

Water your plants.

Wash your face.

Drink.

The sharpened blade is for memory.

Metal lives long, never grows weary of our comings and goings.

Wrap this blade in newspaper.

Keep beneath your bed.

Be patient, daughter.

Be patient.

(upbeat music) - [Announcer] Funded by the North Dakota Council on the Arts and by the members of Prairie Public.