Peeling paint on depot walls
Quercus shadows stretch and crawl
Silver chain rests on my palm
Time keeps pace with chlorophyll calm
[Pre-
Second hand sweeps past the rust
Iron wheels return to dust
My thumb feels the engraved leaf
Vascular bundles in relief
Tick counts steps on cracked concrete
Roots remember every beat
Pocket watch and depot clock
Syncopated botanist talk
Acer leaves turn copper gold
Stories in the grain unfold
Wind shakes seeds from sampling pods
Data logged in wooden codes
[Pre-
Second hand sweeps past the rust
Iron wheels return to dust
My thumb feels the engraved leaf
Vascular bundles in relief
Tick counts steps on cracked concrete
Roots remember every beat
Pocket watch and depot clock
Syncopated botanist talk
Xylem rises through the night
Phloem carries sugar light
Stomata open at the dawn
Dew drops on the platform lawn
Tick counts steps on cracked concrete
Roots remember every beat
Pocket watch and depot clock
Syncopated botanist talk
Anthocyanin stains the rail
Pigment tells a seasonal tale
Lignin hardens year by ring
Watch hears everything that sings
Tick counts steps on cracked concrete
Roots remember every beat
Pocket watch and depot clock
Syncopated botanist talk
Brass grows warm from body heat
Metal drinks the pulse complete
Photosynthesis in the gears
Time grows slower disappears
Tick counts steps on cracked concrete
Roots remember every beat
Pocket watch and depot clock
Syncopated botanist talk
Final click the lid slides shut
Roots keep counting footfall strut