You rise in thickets
From dunes, under Sitka spruce
Glossy, evergreen.
Or you blanket duff,
Sheltering Douglas squirrels,
Drinking wet fir stumps.
Leather leaves, staggered
On zig-zagging, hirsute stems
You feed deer and elk.
Pink stalks bear white bells
Hummingbirds and bees visit
Their dance spreads pollen
Purple-black berries
Juicy-sweet in summer’s heat
Birds, bears, people eat
Rhizomes survive fire
Spreading in salt, sun, or shade
Living centuries
We call you salal
Or Gaultheria shallon
Ericaceous shrub
