Rik George writes

Rain and Lichen

Exploring in the rain, 
peeling away 
green-spattered 
gray lichen from old boards, 
I find splinters 
and the dark tracks 
of my wet fingers. 
Once I stood
in another rain 
and traced your name 
on boards like these 
while you argued 
your reasons for leaving. 
When the rain wets the lichen, 
I remember you 
and trace dark tracks 
with splinters in my fingers.
 
 Lichens -- Liz Brooke Ward