LICHEN ON BIRCH

Lichen splashes cool, barely green, on silky birch paper.
Scorning guidelines, these lapping, liquid forms
belie the Artist's plodding brush work
in paint that well outlives the canvas.

(Flavoparmelia caperata is one of more than 10,000 species of lichen. Lichens are composite, symbiotic organisms often comprising both a fungus and an alga. The former provides structure; the latter, sustenance, through photosynthesis. Most species grow less than a millimeter per year, and, given a durable substrate, can easily live for centuries.)