Grandfather Rock

Solid, steady, stoic,

Face stubbled with moss 

Pockmarked with craters 

Almost lunar in scope 

Marbled with seafoam lichen,

He supports many lifeforms,

Like the Rhododendron Maximum

That stands on his shoulders

Grizzled & jutting over the trail

With protective prominence,

Ancient presence, 

From the seafloor of yore,

To the mixed mesophytic forest 

Over which he now

Patiently presides, 

Watching his children, 

Awaiting the next phase 

Of his guardianship.