col · lichen

symbiont · alga and fungus, a quiet partnership

lichen

a green that is also a grey. the colour of a stone in the forest that has been there longer than the forest has. the colour of the wall facing north, in garden, in the rainy season.

lichen is the slowest colour. it grows a millimetre a year. you find it on the headstones, on the wood of the bench by the river, on the shutters of any building that has stopped being painted. it is the colour of patience, of the partnership that does not need to speak.

lower than viridian. older than citron. a quiet partner of mist and frost.

atlas · return