False Solomon’s seal

                                    (Maianthemum racemosum)

False Solomon’s seal, you trade
     in frankincense and myrrh,
          filling the forest with your fragrance.

There is a wisdom in the ladder
      of your leaves, clasping their way
           to each perfusion of scent and blossom.

Multiplied beneath the sunlit spaciousness
     of Douglas fir, you make a Milky Way
          of stars, as if the skies had poured

themselves into our lap, born
     again as a field of flowers, one vast aroma,
          calling us to a true home.

                                         —North Cascades National Park