Galvanized ribs breathe summer heat
Oxalis creeps through grid beneath
Fingers map each flaking scale
Quercus rubra tells the tale
Corrosion writes in orange script
Each pitted groove a cryptic glyph
Roots remember what metal forgets
Time measures in oxide depths
Leather traces iron veins at dusk
Quercus shadows stretch on rust Taxonomy of oxidation
Iron blooms in slow gestation
Cowhide palms press cold against
Decades of rain and pollen dense
Stipules catch on jagged edge
Sambucus nods from window ledge
Patina blooms like lichen slow
Ferric flowers in row on row
Chlorophyll stains the rusted flange
Life insists on iron change
Leather traces iron veins at dusk
Quercus shadows stretch on rust
Taxonomy of oxidation
Iron blooms in slow gestation
Grandmother's gloves supple still
Taught me roots obey no will
Prune the deadwood feed the soil
Watch the season turn its coil
Leather traces iron veins at dusk
Quercus shadows stretch on rust Taxonomy of oxidation
Iron blooms in slow gestation
Fireflies in Toxicodendron
Night blooms where the rust has gone
Leather stiffens evening chill
Quiet hands record data still
Leather traces iron veins at dusk
Quercus shadows stretch on rust Taxonomy of oxidation
Iron blooms in slow gestation
Taxonomy complete at last
Each rust bloom catalogued held fast Iron flowers undefiled
Summer dusk forever wild
Leather traces iron veins at dusk
Quercus shadows stretch on rust
Taxonomy of oxidation
Iron blooms in slow gestation
Leather rests on oxidized rail
Iron blooms where shadows pale