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 24 — the overview effect

Been wanting to write this poem (or a version of it) ever since hearing the term. Thankfully, once I started, it was surprisingly easy. Images taken from a range of astronauts who have spoken on the subject. It’s not the poem I thought I was going to write so I might have another crack at it one day.

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the overview effect

when looked at 
with an astronaut’s eye 
the earth is not so very big

from a mere 250 miles up
exactly the distance 
between Athens to Istanbul

the sky that once went on forever
is actually as thin as 
a piece of paper

nature is everything 
clouds, mountains, forests
deserts, oceans, so much ocean

rivers like necklaces of pearls
& she glows day, night, sunrise, 
sunset, glowing in every colour

not all of man’s might can be seen
but too much can — erosion, degradation,
wounds, sprawling cities, oil slicks, scars

she disregards borders
for the foolish political fictions
she renders conflict ridiculous

not that the blue marble is big
she’s frighteningly mind-bogglingly
small      so  so  so  very small against 

the   ongoing     vast      silent       emptiness        of         space 

Day 20 – pity party (& binge bash)

20 mudwallow_buffalo.jpg

This was actually begun as a poem for someone else … & took a wrong turn along the way, which improved it immeasurably.

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wallows

was happily wallowing, wallowing;
in my heart of broken glass pain;
my sad song that never ends;
my woe-is-me tale of eternal misery;
with my wounded soul lying in a cave;
like a hippo in mud;
like the proverbial pig;
like the …
                  when i got to wondering
what other creatures like a good wallow.
a quick interwebbing told me
   elephants & elephant seals
     warthogs & rhinoceroses
        tapirs & bison all do; some deer too.

accidentally learning along the way,
it’s a comfort behaviour, free sunscreen,
insect repellent, wet brush to enhance
moulting & remove parasites; as well as
aids social cohesion & play in young animals.

by which, i’d forgotten my mopery
(though i was a good deal    itchier)


BONUS POEM: April 20, 2018

After a scare with their prepaid Skip the Line tickets I finally saw my mother (Old Ma Jones) & my niece inside, when I thought, WTH I may as join the end of the queue & see how long it actually takes. Seemed a shame to be so close & not even try.

*****


shadowvale

I did not leave
myself all day
lost in the space
I’m always lost in
— from here
I glimpse
things stranger
than I have known
things I could
once have been
were it not
for the shadows
in the vale

20b hyde park.jpg