Lake a lid of asphalt gray
One for the truth in hiding
Birchbark split in twenty ways
One for the hard deciding
Rosehip bright as prick of blood
One for the writhing wrench of birth
Fronds of fen-sprung ferns unfurl
One for the lusciousness of Earth

Lilac rays of aster stars
One for the eyelashed tender young
Ashfruit blaze in laddered leaves
One for the rage of songs unsung
Fishrib-slim pink fireweed frames
One for the caring hands of wives
Fugue of fungus up a trunk
One for the burly working lives

Lightning-butchered Norway spruce
One for the witnessing of pain
Maple dipped in tangerine
One for the pleasures that remain
Veiny yellow elder waves
One for the falling into graves
Burst and sodden thistlepods
One for the changing of the gods

Simple swerving cattail arc
One for the mercy that is art
Berry crown atop a stalk
One for wisdom’s silent walk
At last the clustered eyeflower blooms.
One for the opening of wombs