Tag Archives: lightning

Day 10 – superstitions + myths

Another poem that (the concept of which) has been bubbling around my brain for a few days. Again it might’ve been a better “introductory” pome but we get what get when we gets it.

The Factoid is actually an assembly of 5 Mushroom Myths, to which I could easily have added another 5 more. But five seemed the right number so I picked the funnest ones.

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superstitions abound because

i. popular
they alarm : in (as archaic storytellers would say) : ye olden days : simply : by suddenly appearing : & equally so : disappearing : into nothingness : more often than not : as if out of nowhere : oftener in odd : unusual : otherworldly : or magical forms : some humanoid in shape : some suggestive : complete with earthy intoxicating smells : foul unpleasant smells : gaudy colours : extravagant colours : glorious colours : colours which change when touched : or cut : bawdy designs : gorgeous  designs : even some which light up the dark : bioluminescence : being almost the last straw : of our ancestor’s sanity

they appear : in fairy rings : aka : dimensional portals ; midnight transportation to realms of the Fae : time travel ; where one night’s revelry inside : equates with a hundred years back home : & the deaths of all your family & friends : crushing one causes ; the curse of bad luck : predicting lifespans : or amphitheatres ; where only the pure-hearted ; can enjoy ; ethereal music & exotic dancing : scorch marks ; created by overheated dragon tails ; or worse ; wild witches dance in them ; & in their swivels summon devils : as architects of immortality

they grew : where lightning had struck earth ; or fallen stars lodged : they were made of : the blood of dragons : seeded by the Devil : or any one ; of a number of gods ; some benevolent ; others more perverse  

they were : the work of witches : portals for fairies : gifts & curses from the divine : reflections of our desires ; our doubts : some even translocate us : within our own minds

ii. personal
whereas i believe : the ongoing obsession : love/hate : philia/phobia : fondness/fear : fixation : infatuation : call it what you will : between fungi : & us : is because we recognise : at a sub liminal level : we realise : in the sub strate : of our souls : we acknowledge : at our deepest sub conscious core : we would not be here : without that first ancient collaboration : between fungi & plant : five hundred million years ago

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Day 10 Factoid – There’s A Lot Of Mushroom Misconceptions Around

5 False Myths About Mushrooms

1. If Animals Eat Them…
Animals eat many things I would not put 
near my mouth. (My dog’s diet is a perfect 
case in point.) Learning to identify mushrooms 
is far more reliable than trusting a moose.

2. Cooking Makes Mushrooms Safe
Try if you like but no matter how thoroughly 
you cook various poisonous mushrooms
many/most toxins do not break down 
with heat/any type of cooking. So no go, Joe.

3. Color Indicates Toxicity …
Not all brightly coloured mushrooms are toxic 
& plenty of dull coloured ones are safe to eat.

3i. Any White Mushrooms Are Safe To Eat Myth
No, white is not alright. Think this & it 
might be your last thought. Some of the most 
toxic mushrooms around are pure white 
& would love to kill you if they could.

4. All Toxic Mushrooms Taste Bad
That all poisonous mushrooms taste bad, bitter, 
or sour is baloney. Reportedly the death cap tastes
excellent. How do we know? It doesn’t always kill 
immediately — liver failure & other organ damage is also possible.

5. Cooking With A Silver Spoon Identifies Toxic Mushrooms.
Supposed sulphur-containing toxic mushrooms 
will not cause silver spoons to blacken or tarnish. 
All it means is if you survive your meal, 
you might have to polish your silver again.

Day 03 – first fungi + lightning strikes

Paleo evidence of fungi is naturally limited, their bodies being soft & squishy & such. But some lifeforms have been found frozen in rock. This is about them, the Adams & Eves of the fungi family, well not tree, but you get what I mean.

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Prototaxites

imagine a quiet landscape : strange &
surreal to our cellulose-centric : eyes : 
400 million years past : before flowers : 
before forests : & long : before dinosaurs

most plants barely : tickling ankles : no 
trees : no reptiles : no shade : probably 
even very little sound : nothing for 
the wind to whisper wispily through

but rising from the ground : grand 
pillars : things : neither of stone :
nor wood : taller than a typical house
vertical structures : fingers pointing

while mammals still swam : the primordial ocean
this potential precursor to fungi : is king

*Scientists debate what Prototaxites actually was: a giant fungus, a lichen-like 
organism, or a completely extinct branch of life with no modern descendants. 
But let’s not let mere quibbles stand in the way of a nice sonnet.

*****

Factoid 3 – Lightning can speed up mushroom growth & potentially double production  

mycelia celebrations

lightning strikes
mushrooms multiply

mycologists  myco
philes  &  mycophagists

celebrate thunder 
dance in storms

Day 13 – shadows & the probability of lightning births

I’m really struggling to find Big O’s voice in this project. I’ve tried not writing in first person but it comes off very cold (which I suppose could be good thing) but I always end up flipping it back again. Worse, the words which are coming out are far more banal than the ideas which sound in my head. Frustrating, yes. Unusual, no. 

the shadow of today

one long year ago
i was abruptly evicted
from your world 
for no good reason

no reason at all
really

after foolishly

trying to rescue you
& failing

which i suppose was all
just a half-cocked
attempt to save 
                                    myself 
from insanity’s solitude 

now i am worse 
than i was before

having forgotten 
how to sing

or even — 
why i once did

Day 13 – TIL I learnt about birth & lightning but not maths

the odds of 
— giving birth 
    to a baby 
       at 12:01am
          on January 1 
            are around 
               1 in 526,000*

which is 
     roughly the same 
        as getting struck 
           by lightning

the odds of 
— giving birth 
    to a baby 
       at 12:01am
          on January 1 
              while getting struck 
                 by lightning

involves 
— knowledge of 
      maths way way 
         above my pay grade 

like 276, 676, 000, 000 
   times above it

*less so if you’re a male

Day 11 — losing a muse + losing mobility

A fragment of a song & a in-depth look at a very real phenomena for older Australians.

museless 

i’ve lost my voice
worse i’ve nothing worth saying
the songs cannot be sung
the notes no longer sound
the words will not form
the world is hoarse
with my grief 

Day 11 – TIL about a highly triggering word

useless

Ackwards is (allegedly)
an old English dialect 
word describing a creature 
lying on its back 
that can’t get up.

I’d just like to say:

1. I’ll have you know 
I’m choosing not to get up,
So, thank you very much

2. Get your damn camera 
Out of my room before
I call the cops big time.

3. It’s a bit awkward that
The only reference I can find
To this on the whole internets
is one. solitary. tweet.*

*Twitter!
Now there’s a creature on its back 
that can no longer get up …