A Slender Lichen

I walked down the quiet brick lane toward the derelict storefront near the canal, where an undisturbed shadow preserves what damp stone naturally yields. Between the split grain of an abandoned timber sill, a colony of cup lichen had flourished, its miniature grey-green chalices catching the noon moisture. Kneeling deliberately to keep my hem clear of the silt, I applied the slender tip of my wand to ease a tiny, intact cluster away from the wood rot without rupturing its delicate rims. A specimen of this quality infuses cleanly into drying balms. I transferred it onto a fresh linen square, satisfied that patient scrutiny never goes unrewarded.