Day 08 – field + 3-in-1

Seems like there’s a few mushroom memory poems in me trying to make their way out. So we’d best let them. It is an interesting corollary of creative activity that once you start down a certain pathway of thinking/exploration, more & more bubbles to the surface, including things you may not have thought about in decades or even remember you remembered.

WARNING: The Factoid is a pretty shocking and revelatory reveal that will quite possibly BLOW your mind.

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field mushrooms
Agaricus multitudinous 

one of my favourite memories 
as a child was wandering 
the wet grassed dew paddocks
                  in my wellies 

& finding huge white beauties 
with chocolate brown gills 
smelling of earth & muddy fertility 
                  some the size of plates

talking with my parents
several days ago we agreed
don’t see as many as we used to 
                  anecdotally at least 

back then the adventure 
was the finding not the eating 
some things stay the same
                  but others change drastically 

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Day 08 Factoid – Not all mushrooms taste the same

the unusual instance of 3 mushrooms in 1
Agaricus bisporus

1. Button
entirely white
baby blobs of bland
reason for near universal popularity
             unknown

2. Cremini 
brown capped 
no visible gills
firmer texture  
             difficult to source in Oz

3. Portobello
large rugged roofed
flat brown caps 
& visible gills
             at last looking like a proper mushy

4. Revelation
all these mushrooms are the same
the minor difference is age
the major difference is taste
             (you’re welcome)

Day 07 – foraging + edibility

Lovely walks past & present. [Note: photo is one of mine, taken on just such a walk.]

The Factoid Poem addresses the very real & pressing question: what mushrooms can you eat?

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foraging seasons

i.
some substantial rain & 
the passing of the March equinox 
heralds the coming season

magic is starting among the trees
but we’re all waiting
on a little more water first

to engage in our adult version
of an Easter egg hunt — the long 
range forecast delivered news

no one wanted — a dry winter
followed by another dry summer 
La Niña’s kaput  El Niño’s back baby

ii.
Chester & i enjoyed wandering 
among the pines on dank damp 
drizzling delightful delicious days 

he loved smelling every new spore
before dashing off to the next adventure 
leaving me to identify (if i could)

& artfully photograph the most alluring 
sometimes wished i could have trained 
him to seek out truffles (or similar)

but he found his enjoyment 
in his own way & that was enough 
(more than enough)            for me

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Day 07 Factoid – All mushrooms are edible

Edible

don’t listen to what
the naysayers neigh

you can eat any 
mushroom you like

whether you wish to keep
living is another matter

altogether

Day 06 — impressions + interstellars

This one has been building for many days. In an ideal world, perhaps it should have been the first poem of the month. But it’s not. What ya gonna do about it? It’s here now. & it’s okay.

The Poetic Factoid has the potential to be revisited in a bigger poem later on as there’s lots of interesting things about that particular topic.

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first impressions

when i think of mushrooms : it’s almost always something primal : something primitivistic : something pagan : something archetypal : something out of the dim distant past : something older than dinosaurs : something ancient & eternal : more chthonic than Cthulhu : yet still something otherworldly : something Lovecraftian : something neverending : something overpowering : something from Ovid’s Metamorphosis : constantly transforming

primordial : growing among the decay : the rot : the hummus holes of homes : the wet humble detritus of life : in a forest : in a cave : somewhere dark : somewhere dank : somewhere quiet : somewhere eternal : somewhere enchanted intertwined entangled beguiled 

yet for all this : passionate : active : evocative : working hard to make the world better : to restore : to regenerate : to rejuvenate 

to con : tinue on

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Day 06 Factoid — Space fungi are badassess

star spores

7 years ago a number of unoffending fungi were deliberately 
attached to the hull of the ISS by malicious scientists

exposing them to a year of space’s malevolent triple threat
cosmic radiation  complete vacuum  & Kelvin-level temps

despite the deep freeze many both survived the ordeal 
& were capable of reproducing themselves afterwards

hinting at the possibility fungi
                             could well be excellent interstellar explorers

Day 05 – the tomb shroom + maybe manna

FOG Day 1 of 2. Nothing like getting it out of the way early on. Another Case Study poem, with a slight difference to yesterday’s & probably all that conceivably will follow it. Note: I’m pretty pleased with today’s poem also which means heavy redaction. 

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Case Study: Aboriri gravis
#2: Tomb Dweller

[please click to enlarge image]

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Factoid Day 05 – TIL I learnt about potential biblical fungi

manna mania

that the bible does not 
mention mushrooms once 
says everything i need to know

yet some cheeky scholars suggest 
the small round things that appear after morning 
dew — are psilocybin mushrooms

Day 02 – poem about hermits

02 in_my_magnifying_glass_01_by_coollekotten-d4jgu83

case study #7

she makes peace with past tears ;
ignores the radio’s roster of sad songs
background faint which seek to suck
her into sinkholes she’s spent years
climbing out of ; sliding back in
– a triumph just buying milk

he prepares a packet-free meal ;
washes a load sans tissue-in-pocket ;
actually eats the watermelon before
it emulsifies in its clingwrap shroud
– little victories by most parameters
but he’ll take them ; gladly

& so we assemble our fragments