Lichen on stone

Lichen on stone, embroiler

of green rubber, embroils

the most ancient hieroglyphics,

extends the writing

of ocean

on the round rock.

The sun reads it, mollusks gnaw it,

and the fish slide

from stone to stone like shivers.

In the silence the alphabet goes on

completing the submerged signs

on the bright hip of the coast.

Lichen weaver with skein

comes and goes builds and builds

carpeting the grotto of air and water

so that none dances but the wave

and naught succeeds but wind.

Pablo Neruda