L'aura del Campo

Lichen it

Winter: I would say I'm liking it, but it's too cold and not snowy enough. Tomorrow though...



Lichen it

         for Elena Louder

She clings to his rough rock surface,
paints his dark crystals shades of grey,
gives life where only sun and rain have kissed him,
softens his toil one crumbling grain at a time.
She is patient and has nowhere to go.

Still, she’ll be willing to tumble wherever he takes her
and together they’ll make some future soil.
But for centuries now she’s barely clung,
with algal tendrils and fungal fingers,
fast to his hard rough rock.

© Kåre Enga 2010-11-16 [167.282]



I sat with Elena and we talked about soils, her topic of study. She'll be a conservationist. I thought of lichen and the small joke "lichen it".



I've read a lot of Montana poetry recently: Brant, Fallein, Greene, Holbrook, Thomas... My next project may be to reread Harry Potter #7.



It's been frigid, less than 20, on the way to sub-zero temps. I'll have time to thaw in Costa Rica.

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