WORK BY ELIZABETH MYHR



Alders in Olympia


                                           In spring, in mist,
they rise above the violet, low-
land valleys clear with rain
from sunken creeks of watercress,
unfurling fern
and newborn moss,

burning low and sweet
fresh emeralds of the year,
those fires once quelled
by soft rain slowly rising
to haunt the woods, pure, undimmed.

Beneath them looking up I see
the last stars netted
in stems of wine-red wood,
each tiny light framed
by an upturned glance,
chance, caught upon
the axes of the galaxy.