nature

Mycelium

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The mushroom,

As it is known,

Is the tip of the fungal iceberg,

So to speak.

Beneath the fruiting body,

In the crux,

Is an interconnected,

Root and chute structure,

That undergirds,

The organism.

An unseen web,

Of white matter,

That provides a foundation.

A loose, scattered scaffold,

That aids the fungus in digestion.

In a superficially cerebral way,

Think of it like this:

The white matter,

In your brain,

Is a network,

Of axons,

That allows you to understand,

Various axioms,

And maxims,

And act on them.

You may not be aware of it,

Or scarcely know of such a thing,

But it’s presence is felt,

Nonetheless.

Hello, Sunshine!

Standard

I sigh,

From where I lie,

Chin held high,

While my eyes imbibe,

The flowing sky,

And all is right.

It’s an unusually bright,

Afternoon,

Already.

Leaves of grass,

Are weaved,

Underneath,

My back-

My hair and clothing,

Have dandelion seeds,

Clinging to them.

“The garden returns,

The flowers bloom, the weeds rise,

All from the sun’s rays.”

I sit up,

And feel the light,

Caress my face,

Hit my hair,

Warm my shoulders.

“Hello, Sunshine!

I’m glad you’ve stopped by,

Thanks for everything.”

Nymph-o-mania

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The Nephelae,

In their endless nebulousness,

Floated,

With empty jars,

Once filled with rain water.

The Hamadryads waited,

With breath bated,

For a little drizzle,

But the Nephelae,

Wasted all of it,

Once again,

On a parade.

So to save face,

They went to their sisters,

The Naiades,

To fill their pitchers.

“Back so soon,” they asked,

Poking their heads out,

From the running rapids.

The Nephelae looked at their feet,

“Use it wisely,”

Said the Naiades.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you”

The Nephelae screamed,

Dipping their jars,

Into the river.

They floated off, toward the forest,

Then the Aurae blew them away,

Over the Amphitheater.

“Now’s as good a time as any!”

And they dumped their cargo,

Onto the concert.

In Microcosm

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“I’d rather be sleeping,” said John, sliding hangers back and forth, trying to find an appealing shirt.

Every day he left pieces of himself behind in his bed.

And the dust mites would eat them, as dust mites are wont to do.

He slid a t-shirt over his face, smearing his skin cells into the fibers.

He has left many impacts on the things in his life, sometimes too small to even be seen.

But they meant everything to those dust mites, who lived for generations, before he’d lay himself to rest again.

Is he still John then?

Vermin

Standard

The spider in the corner,

Of my dorm,

Foreigner,

Hoarder,

With web in disorder.

If I were shorter,

I’d steer clear,

And try not to vear,

Into his hunting gear.

He’s well-equipped,

Works from home,

And quite strict,

When prey roams,

Toward his crypt.

The monster,

Stands,

A stone’s throw away,

Saunters,

On silken-strands,

He’d be easy to slay,

With a magazine,

But that’s mean,

And I’d have to clean,

After.

He keeps,

His heaps,

Tidy,

And tiny,

So I’ll let him stay,

Maybe.

Evergreen

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It’s not that pine trees,

Have a lot to hide,

They just don’t have much,

To show.

Standing solid,

Solemn,

Stable,

Their needles as green,

As they ever were.

Crows, for being draped in black,

Are not very stealthy,

Rather garrulous,

Cawing in threes,

Bobbing, posturing,

Perched in the trees.

The rusted-out fire pit,

Doesn’t do very much,

In the day,

Besides,

Retain,

Past rain.

I’m sitting on the old bench,

That’s been here,

Since before I was,

Thinking about how,

The more things change,

The more they stay the same.

Obligate Carnivore

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I crouched low, and felt the grass rustle up against my empty stomach.

I’m very good at this; it’s what I was born to do.

There stood a hare, ears swiveling, back to me. It hopped toward a red flower.

I’ve never gotten one of these before; they’re supposed to be a lot of trouble to catch.

I couldn’t take my chances, so I used a slower approach than normal.

Right paw first, I slowly tamped down the grass so that it didn’t make a sound.

The hare picked its head up and tore the flower out of the ground; its ears scanned the surroundings.

I took another step.

The hare sat motionless.

I grew impatient, but slowly continued. My tail flowed with the wind.

The hare suddenly stopped eating, sat on its haunches.

I dropped into the grass.

It turned and walked toward another patch of herbs growing near tall grass, all the while the bulb dangled from its mouth by a length of disappearing stem. Still hungry.

When I felt sure it was occupied with eating again, I arched my back and moved forward again.

The hare dropped to the ground and folded his ears.

Now was my time to strike, his guard was down.

I bounded off, eyes widened.

He clearly sensed something, his ears popped back up but he didn’t move a muscle.

I was closing in.

Mouth agape, arms outstretched, claws extended, I leaped toward my prey.

In turn, he jumped straight into the air.

I hit the empty spot where he was and bounced a bit, then he fell onto my back with a sharp “thud,” and knocked me into the dirt on my side.

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing much.”

“Not funny,” the hare said with a flick of his nose, “you caught me at a bad time.”

I hissed. He held my legs down, I was pinned.

“But I’m going to be nice,” he said.

I couldn’t do much else but listen, my stomach growled audibly.

“If you promise not to chase me, I won’t have to embarrass you.”

“I’m pretty fast,” I said.

He held his chin high, “sure you are,” he said.

I leaned forward and bit at his neck. Force of habit.

He bobbed out of the way then put his front legs on my head, kicked my face and jumped off of me.

“Last chance,” he said. The field behind him was wide open.

I looked down and noticed some dandelion seeds stuck to my fur. I licked them off and looked at him.

The hare sat staring.

“Choose wisely,”

I jumped suddenly; he ran underneath me and disappeared into the tall grass, yelling obscenities.

Now he’s done it! I dug my claws into the ground and spun around.

The tall grass extended out into the distance.

My stomach gurgled again.

It might go against my nature, but I think I’ll just cut my losses this time.

Hydraulic Jump

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A sudden rise,

In the babbling whitewater,

Runs backwards,

And defies,

The established,

Instability.

Jets spray,

Tourists paddle,

A bear,

Straddles a boulder,

Waiting for trout,

To breach,

Into its open snout,

If it can reach.

The inflatable raft,

Glides over,

The aerated stream,

Rapids,

And drop-offs,

Turning with the bends,

Instead of against them,

Even when they seem to be going,

No place,

It’s not a race,

Just a vacation.

The Frey Effect

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Haven’t you heard?

Hearing, the sensation

requires some good vibration,

to get the eardrums

moving.

Microwave radiation,

in the tiniest doses,

bypasses bones

no barriers broken.

Your brain buzzes

like the Chatty Cathy,

it actually is –

even if you’re at a loss for words.

The electrons in

your audio cortex

are eager to broadcast

for me,

but only get so far.

It’s easy to gossip,

when the whispers

are beamed directly into

your thoughts.

Can we say, then,

that we are of the same mind?