To the Hunter of Ginseng

Do not look on north slopes. Do not look in moist forests,
under broad leaves’ shade. This is how you would find it,
and should you find it? Ginseng can be over-gathered. Taught
not to grow in the place it is hunted. Or killed back where it was
thickest and best. Reconsider searching for trillium, Solomon’s seal,
Jack-in-the-Pulpit—the companion plants. A man may seek a woman’s
hand like a palmate leaf. And he will receive it. But you do not have to
go there, to those north slopes. Think on the seasons ahead, how it feels
to be still pursuing the scarlet fruit. How much more do you want
of the dug-up root, the actual little body shape, shriveled and bare?