Young plant: sprout in grace
shedding hull, fishing green headbud
up toward the warmth until the
world–bug-bitten, shale-sloped,
veined and ruled with
thickets comes into
view
but don’t despair.
Tear
out those leaves
and hold them flat to the sky;
sunburn your veins good and
fill them with new blood until you burst
until you warm your roots underneath
the shifting maze of what would like
to rule you.