Tag Archives: words

Day 21 — Mycology & mushroom wisdom

This was a scrap of poem from earlier in the month that wasn’t working, I threw away the last two verses & did something cool to the rest. It’s gone from a meh! to a YEH! in my eyes. The Factoid was fun too.

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Mybookcology 

i know : i already own more : than can possibly : be read in the rest : of my lifetime (of several even) — even if : i did nothing else : in the burgeoning biosphere : & despite my relatively brisk : reading speed — yet still they accumulate : like mycelium : threading through : the loam of my life : the soil of my soul : subconsciously : drawing them all into me : gifts from friends moving house : family gifts given : then returned upon ‘completion’ : online orders clicked in the long : insomnia laden : post-midnight hours : (when, i have to admit : they seemed much wiser choices) : intermittent  acquisitions : from those rare impulse buys : when i just happen : to walk into a store : for a few moments : of me time : & interlinking : when a client : wants to go opshopping : i can’t very well say no : microscopic structures : breathed in : breaking me down : enriching my being : there’s a kind of order amongst them : invisible connections : a sense of sorts : thriller : crime : historical : fantasy : sci-fi : paranormal : literary : Australian : & so on : but never enough space : for the system to flourish : windows blocked now : by cases : the gloom : forest floor dark : everything getting less light : small stacks mushrooming : from the floor : spores stretching for the ceiling

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Day 21 Factoid — talking mushrooms

fungigence

fungi : have an electrical language : much like 
what goes on : with our neurons & synapses

they even just might : communicate with 
neighbours : using words : in simple sentences

& this ancient : humous-hugging kingdom : does it all 
without brains (hey, it works for some humans)

Day 08 – why read + empathy

Today’s poem is an attempt at answering a question I get asked often (or variations thereof) — why do you read so much?  It’s a tough one because it seems pretty self-evident to me … but over the years I’ve jotted down various reasons & this poem attempts to pull them together into a cohesive form. It’s possibly still too long & requires an edit. I’ll see how it looks/feels in a couple of weeks’ time.

The Factoid concerns the correlation between empathy & reading fiction …

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why READ : an inexhaustive list

why do I breath : I mean : seriously 

cos I can’t not : compulsion

it’s : escape & refuge : adventureland & safe space : idyllic pasts & dystopian futures : a chance to ignore the dumpster fire that the world constantly seems like it wants to become : just for a few hours 

to get lost : lose time : time travel : to walk a mile : or warp the space time continuum : cause the real world to cease to exist : lose myself : in the wash & flow : of well told tale 

to let this : always overworked brain : go off leash
to glean answers for questions : I didn’t even know : I needed to ask
to explore the beauty : & darkness of humanity : to share a sacred indulgence
to understand myself : others : the world : to heal the wounds : to fill the lonely void of the universe’s vastness with a brief flicker of light

to experience : sustenance : catharsis : terror : joy : sadness : triumphs : heartbreaks : tears & sorrows

to share minds with : philosophers two thousand years dead : Caesars : physicists capable of explaining the universe : poets who explain the human heart : saints & sinners : & tanner’s sons from small market towns who change the world

because I can’t live every life I want to
because I can live lives I wouldn’t want to actually experience but enjoy experiencing 
because it’s fun being thrown into other universes : other time periods : other countries : other cities : other world views : other consciousnesses : other POVs : hell it’s even fun just to be thrown across the street : things look rather different from behind their curtains than mine

relax : after long tiring days
rejuvenate : on days when I have to do : nothing 

I love words
I love stories

I like who I am when I read
I like looking through mirrors & into windows 

I’m a loner who enjoys  solitude  silence  stillness : dreaming while awake

because the alternative : isn’t an option

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Day 08 Factoid – Reading fiction increases empathy

walking a mile in someone’s book

countless studies have shown:

folks who read fiction often
     have greater social cognition (work out what people think & feel)
     are better at measuring interpersonal sensitivity
     are more likely to help 
     can identify, understand, & share in someone else’s feelings
     behave more altruistically
     result in better doctors

so, to repeat 
     reading fiction is empathy-building
     so stop farking about here 
     go read a goddamn novel 
     & become a better person
     you numpty
                             (or words to that effect)

Day 06 – poem about THE wonder of the world

text close up

Life can be such a poo the way it gets in the way. The first draft of this pome was finished well before 11am with intentions to tweak later in the day; but work, 2 & 1/2 hours of driving, that pesky niece again (thankfully the essay is due tomorrow, well today now) meant it’s had no chance for revision & is being uploaded a few minutes after my midnight. Ahh well, it’s a solid start that can be worked on later.

cheap paperback wonderland

though the pages are yellow, foxed
though the spine brittle
though the glue cracks
as each page tumbles over
transforming bound book
into loose leaves no matter
how reverentially i turn

despite the damage i inflict
upon this precious relic
long savoured by my mother
as one of her favourite fictions
i am once more lost   this time
in revolutionary cornwall
as the industrial age fires up
weeping at love gone awry
wailing harder when reconciled

every so often wandering astray
at the way words  no matter
the medium  these upright lines
curious curves  intermittent
dots & convoluted squiggles
repeatedly rearrange themselves
into emotional outpourings
that make them the greatest
of all wonders