Tag Archives: DNA

Day 01 – names & nomenclature 

April. Always after March. Every damn year. So soon in the season too. Thus Na/GloPoWriMo 2026. 

Spent yesterday being super organised & preparing for a whole other theme … but this idea has been roiling around in the back of my mind for some years. And so — a 20th hour decision meant tossing all that work out & going with my gut.

This year’s themes-based approach means I seek to write 30 poems about mushroom & fungi. (Things I love; have [read/possess] multiple books about; & am truly fascinated by.)

Sometimes the poem might be about mushrooms themselves, searching for them in the forests, recipes, their role in nature, literature, whatever. Othertimes I might take one of the many unusual exotic names as a title & riff off that on a totally unrelated tangent with only the name as common denominator. 

As previously III, since many journals/comps/etc refuse to accept poems even if they’ve only been on personal Facebook pages or blogs with minimal subscribers I won’t be posting the entirety of each poem on my blog, but a [hopefully] tantalising snippet.

I’m uncertain yet whether I shall undertake to write a daily Poetic Factoid poem. Feels like there’s a lot on this month already! Even these short silly poems often work quite well, better than the main event sometimes. Perhaps I should just write these & bugger the serious bunk.

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Day 1 – the many fine names of the mushroom

Button : Oyster : Honey : Chestnut : Cauliflower
Coral : Lobster : Puffball : Giant Puffball : Parasol 
Milky : Straw : Deer : Beech : Elm

Wine Cap : Stinkhorn Inky Cap : Black Trumpet
Hedgehog : Chicken of the Woods
Lion’s Mane : Turkey Tail
Wood Ears, Jelly Ears, & Pig’s Ears

Slippery Jack : Jack O’Lantern : Charcoal Burner
Yellowfoot : Yellow Stainer : Velvet Shank

Dryad’s Saddle : Elfin Saddle : Scarlet Elf Cup
Saffron Milk Cap : Indigo Milk Cap : 
Panther Cap : Death Cap : Tiger Sawgill : Destroying Angel

Fairy Ring : Earthstar

Chanterelle & False Chanterelle
Morel & False Morel

a list just begun : a list of poetics : & poison 
                               divination : & deception 
                               delicious : & disgusting
magic : & medicinal 
decay : & rebirth 

a list : as old : as humanity 

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Factoid 1 – genetic mind warp

the categorisation of mushrooms

neither plants : nor animals they
belong instead : to the kingdom : fungi
along with : lichens, yeasts, mildews, molds, rusts, & smuts

indeed, we’re more closely related to fungi than plants
sharing some 50% of our DNA with shrooms

Day 17 — reading genes + reading droughts

April 17 is my grandmother’s birthday; she would’ve been 101 today. So I wanted to honour her again by a poem that explores my reading ancestry.

The Poetic Factoid was going to be about the correlation between reading & various genetic traits, until I came across a word in my research & I knew the poem had to be about that.

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the genetics of reading

looking back through time
     there’s a definite lineage
          a genetic heritage of literature

my mother’s always been deep
     into crime to which I was a late comer
          her greatest gift to me was green Anne
               the Poldarks surprised me by being 
                    much more than mere bodice 
                         ripping regency romances

— teen me returned the favour by hooking her on fabulous fantasy

mum was clearly given gifts from her mother as both
     delighted in the murders & mysteries of Dame Agatha
          Georgette Heyer & Dorothy L Sayers ; gran even
               read James Bond, Alistair McLean & similar thrillers
                    when younger before migrating to Danielle Steele &
                         almost anything Large Print by the end of her eyes

— wish I could’ve got her opinion on Julia Quinn

grandad was much more factual
     a biographical non-fiction kinda guy
          books on birds & the natural world
               histories  the English language 
                    the bulk of which I inherited 
                         including     naturally  fittingly

— his impressive leather bound editions of poetry 

          it gives me great pleasure sharing 
     these generational reading genes (even if 
my pants are a bit bigger than theirs)

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Day 17 Factoid — to read or not

A Presbyopian Inspired Drought

the one time in my life 
i’ve read very little 
was for a year or so 
a decade ago when 
every book bored me
when i could not
sit still long enough
to complete a chapter
even a couple of pages
it was aberrant behaviour 
for a life long wyrm 

finally i realised 
the print was blurring
eight to ten inches 
from my eyes — but 
within a month
the magic of specially 
tailored super glass
scientifically ordained
specifically adapted
for my ageing eyes
brought the magic back