Caribou Lichen

Consider the lichen of the Alaskan tundra.

It does not hurry –
patiently weaving itself into the fabric of the earth
over centuries.

It thrives in scarcity –
mysteriously binding elements of air and rock
into fertile soil.

It is beautiful –
a fragile network of branching filaments –
an analog of antlers, river tributaries, root systems.

It teaches that growth is not measured by haste,
nor survival by conquest.

To persist –
to take what is given and make of it something quietly enduring – is wisdom enough.