surprised to learn
that every furtive freckle
held like a secret
in the innermost petals
of one particular pink-white lily
might map exactly
onto the stars
of a certain distant constellation
visible to seafarers
in the Arctic Ocean each December
and born nine billion years in the past?
Or would you be
even more impressed
to know that
no one has ever inspected each one
in a wretched attempt
to rule it out?