Lichens in poetry, part 2

It turns out that Elizabeth Bishop was not the only great mid-century American poet to employ lichen imagery. Here's James Merrill in "The Doodler":

Most recent in the long race that descends
From me, welcome! and least askew of icons
That grow on a new page like rapid lichens
Among the telephone numbers of new friends.

Typical of Merrill to rhyme icons with lichens... rapid lichens, no less!