Mile Marker 322

by Michelle Stoner

Start with the flowers: hostas, lilac,
firework of the bright hydrangea.

Move to the lichen, greenblue
on stone, ancient, and wonder

what will remain of now, be lost.
Which piece will you miss most

when it is gone, emptied like coal
cars, rusted, running under this bridge,

grey area, mechanism, a link.
Metaphors are like passenger trains,

Be on the lookout for the next stanza to be revealed!